New Forest Walks - Millyford Bridge and nearby woodlands

This woodland walk starts beside Highland Water and passes through Holmhill Inclosure, Wooson’s Hill Inclosure and Holidays Hill Inclosure.

Overview

At the start of this walk, below aged over-hanging boughs, steep-banked Highland Water flows over gravel beds on its way to the sea. Evidence of man’s attempts to speed the flow is visible along the way, but that does not detract from the beauty of the stream. Kingfishers and grey wagtails can sometimes be seen, and from the end of May until August, Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies dance, butterfly-like, above the stream.

Holmhill Inclosure was first set aside to grow trees way back in 1670. The original inclosure, however, was largely taken into a later inclosure of the same name created in 1815. Few trees from the original inclosure remain, although the related, substantial surrounding earthen wood-bank is in many places still evident.

This inclosure features many mature broad-leaved trees, such as oak and beech, as well as a variety of conifers, including by the ride-side a stand of larch that in winter attracts mixed flocks of twittering finches to feed – look out for siskins, redpolls and goldfinches. Notice also along here the prominent nests of southern wood ants, built into typically tall, conical shape in clearings or beside the path where warming sunlight is most likely to fall.

A little beyond Holmhill Inclosure in what is now Highland Water Inclosure, is the site of an old Stag Park. One of three such parks shown on the old map of the New Forest, they were clearly associated with deer although their exact purpose remains unclear. It has been suggested, however, that they were created in the 17th century to hold red deer newly imported from France. Earthwork remains can still be seen.

Wooson’s Hill Inclosure was first planted in 1829, and Holidays Hill Inclosure in 1811. Both comprise an attractive mixture of mature, well-spaced broadleaved and coniferous trees, with small areas of younger, regenerating conifers.

Bilberry, a plant tolerant of low light levels and acid soils, grows well in these inclosures; whilst the heart-shaped, clover-like leaves of wood-sorrel are prominent in spring and summer. Often, though, few wood-sorrel flowers appear in spring as in the shade of the trees, many of the plants depend for effective reproduction on relatively inconspicuous, self-pollinating mid-summer blooms.

Of the New Forest deer, roe deer might be present along the way, but fallow deer are the species most likely to be seen during this walk, often in small to medium sized groups. Look out for the swish of a tail, the flick of an ear or the horizontal outline of an animal’s body silhouetted against a background of lighter coloured bracken. In autumn, listen, too, for the sound of rutting deer, for this a favoured area where belligerent yet amorous bucks groan and do battle.

Notice towards the end of the walk, the Portuguese Fireplace. An adjacent interpretation panel informs: ‘This is the site of a hutted camp occupied by a Portuguese army unit during the First World War. This unit assisted the depleted local labour force in producing timber for the war effort. The Forestry Commission has retained this fireplace from the cookhouse as a memorial to the men who lived and worked here ....‘.

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