We are the Surrey Young Walkers. We open the way for everyone in our local community to enjoy the pleasures of walking.
The walk is a wonderful mixture of open heath with wild ponies and woodland for which the New Forest is renowned. The animals of the Forest roam freely and you will see New Forest breeds of cattle everywhere, totally used to people. The only fenced areas are the historic “Inclosures” of spectacular woodland. Every kind of food and drink is available in the big country village of Lyndhurst which is our half way point and likely lunch point. Lyndhurst is the “capital of the New Forest”, named after the linden trees which used to adorn the village. The Manor which includes the village has been a royal hunting park since the Norman Conquest and was granted to a succession of royal queens in the Middle Ages. The population now is around 3000. The tall church of St. Michael and All Angels, finished in 1869, contains a wonderful fresco by Lord Leighton behind the altar and its stained-glass windows were designed by William Morris, Edward BurneJones and Charles Kempe. Alice Liddell who inspired Lewis Carroll's Alice in wonderland is buried there. The Mailman's Arms, a reliable traditional and the Fox and Hounds, a worthy Fullers pub are there is we want to have a drink (time pending). There is a public toilet in the village car park, which may be our best option for facilities. Following lunch we make our way back through the Green Highway, past Ashurst Lodge and the Churchplace inclosure, an old medievil huntil ground. Some area can/may be marshy and sometimes boggy, so good waterproof boots is recommended. Apparently these can be circumnavigated if required, so well see how we go.
Please register at https://surreyyoungwalkers.org.uk/walk-detail.php?id=1802
Beaulieu station
