New Forest Walks - Walks from Brockenhurst

Along the way
North Weirs and South Weirs; Whitefield Moor and Long Slade Bottom re-seeded grasslands; Brockenhurst’s old Rifle Range; a Bronze Age Barrow; the site of the Domesday manor at Hincheslea; and Castleman’s Corkscrew – a disused railway line.

New Forest Heathland at White Moor and elsewhere along the route; Bog, Mire and Wetland Restoration near Five Thorns Hill; Ancient, Unenclosed Woodland at Hincheslea Wood; Hincheslea Bog; and Alder Carr alongside The Weir and around Hincheslea Bog.

The route
Distance: 7 kilometres (4¼ miles) – add a further 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) if walking from and back to Brockenhurst village centre.

Start: The turning for North Weirs, off Burley Road, close to Culverley Green. Note - there is no parking here – SU293021. Terrain: Mainly on level ground, but with a small number of gentle gradients. Mostly firm underfoot, but in winter and after rain, some sections can be wet and muddy. Strong, waterproof boots are therefore recommended. Railway station: Brockenhurst –1.5 kilometres away. Forest Holidays camp sites: Hollands Wood, 2.5 kilometres (1½ mile); Aldridge Hill 2.5 kilometres. Alternative starts: Brockenhurst village centre car parking is available opposite the post office in Brookley Road – SU298024; at the Whitemoor car park on Rhinefield Road, at SU277024; at the Beachern Wood car park, on Rhinefield Road (SU284026; and at the Hincheslea car park on Burley Road, at SU271013.

Directions

From Brockenhurst village

1.    Leave Brockenhurst’s main shopping area along Brookley Road, cross the Watersplash and turn left        along Burley Road. Pass St. Saviour’s church and roads to left and right - The Rise and Wilverley        Road - and further along, on the right, Armstrong Road and Armstrong Lane.

       Immediately before a small bridge with white, roadside railings; turn right along a wide, gravel track        signposted to North Weirs.

The route

2.   Continue along the track leading to North Weirs. Ignore a public footpath on the right; and pass        Linnies, a white-washed cob cottage with later brick additions, and The Thatched Cottage, an        impressive residence that originally was two separate dwellings.

       Ignore a path on the left beside the last paddock before reaching the open Forest, and notice on the        left just beyond, a series of low mounds, the remains of intensely grazed purple moor grass        tussocks.

       Pass on the right Ivy Cottage and, next door, Hawthorn Cottage, both with date stones signifying        construction in 1895 and 1894, respectively.

3.   Follow the track as it swings right, over a low ramp, past a line of alders        and gorse running away across the heath. Shortly after, turn left        immediately beyond another line of trees to follow the edge of the gorse        alongside a wide expanse of grassland – Whitefield Moor.

4.    Immediately before the Whitemoor car park – it’s on the right, bounded by        low ‘dragon’s teeth’ boundary posts – turn 90 degrees left to follow a track        through the gorse.

       On the brow of a low hill, pass another path joining from the right, back        from the direction of the car park; and continue downhill along the track        leading towards a line of alders, birches and lichen-bedecked willows        growing in the wet ground alongside The Weir. Beyond is the gorse and        bracken-clad Five Thorns Hill – Richardson, King and Driver on their map,        produced in the late-18th century, showed this as Vithornes.

       Cross a causeway over The Weir – notice the pipes installed below the        causeway, to help manage the water levels.

       (The suspected location of the ‘new’ rifle range butt is immediately before the causeway, to the right        of the path, hidden on a low mound amongst gorse. A low, Bronze Age barrow is also nearby, over        the causeway and not far to the left, on uncharacteristically low-lying ground, hidden from view by        clumps of gorse and bracken).  

5.   Follow the path as it bends right, around the side of the hill; and continue on as it again swings half to        the right, then goes downhill past another track on the left, then one on the right.  

       Immediately after, turn left at a junction of tracks, towards a line of roadside trees. (To the right here,        up towards Red Hill, are a series of low, parallel banks and ditches, perhaps of great antiquity, or        maybe constructed in the last 100 years for use during military manoeuvres).

6.   Cross the minor road adjacent to Hincheslea car park, turn right and then immediately left opposite        the car park entrance, and follow a path through Hincheslea Wood, an ancient, unenclosed        woodland bordered on one side by pastures that are on the site of the old Domesday manor.       

       Continue along the path as it bends slightly right, uphill, close to the        heathland edge. Pass two tracks coming in from the right, opposite a        grove of elderly hollies; and at a junction of tracks, turn left downhill along        a pronounced gravel track still running alongside the woodland/heathland        edge.

       (There are extensive views to the right here, over a quite deep valley, with        the conifers of Set Thorns Inclosure beyond, and the re-seeded        grasslands of Long Slade Bottom away to the right).

       After a short distance, follow a right fork, then another running round the        rim of the hill. Go straight ahead at a crossroads - the right-hand track        here leads down into the valley bottom.

7.   Follow the track around the edge of the hillside, overlooking a narrow band of gorse and bracken,        Hincheslea Bog, and amongst the trees opposite, the course of Castleman’s Corkscrew, an old,        disused railway line.

8.   Eventually meet a pronounced gravel track with, to the right, a bridge carrying the course of the old        railway, and beside it, an incongruously placed, grey electricity sub-station.

       Turn left here, then immediately right to follow a track running along the base of the still-wooded        hillside.

9.   Cross a pronounced gravel track that, to the right, leads over Hincheslea Bog. Continue straight        ahead, through a group of pines, with to the left, a fence-line alongside private land. Follow the track        as it goes right; pass through a hollow – a disused pit – and continue to the left, around the edge of        the bog.      

       Cross a drainage channel at a small bridge, and immediately after, at a        gap in a line of trees and shrubs, cross another channel. Follow the path        over Trenley Lawn, initially straight ahead, then slightly to the right; with        away to the right, the distant properties of South Weirs.  

       Take the next right fork, leading in the direction of a white-washed cottage        - The Weirs Cottage. Reach an area of grassland through which flows a        small stream; turn right; cross the stream at a single-plank bridge – or        step over – and continue on towards the cottage.

10. Pass beside a low, Forestry Commission vehicle barrier; and follow the        gravel track beside the cottage, with, now visible across the grassland on        the left, the houses of South Weirs. Pass Laurel Cottage and The Upper        Ford on the right, and immediately after, continue straight ahead where        the main gravel track goes left.

       After a short distance, pass Pear Tree Cottage on the right, and go through two kissing gates in quick        succession to follow a field edge public footpath. Leave the field through another kissing gate,        followed immediately by a conventional gate; and skirt a group of farm buildings on the left with, to        the right, a strip of woodland bordering a stream.

       Go straight on beside the stream; cross two stiles; go through a gate; cross a farm track; and go on        for a short distance alongside the stream before crossing a stile and turning right along Burley Road.

11. The turn for North Weirs, the start of the route, is ahead on the left; whilst the Watersplash and        Brockenhurst village centre are beyond.