Surrounded by beautiful woodland, heath and grassland, the charming village of Brockenhurst, with its free-roaming ponies and donkeys, makes an ideal walking base. Furthermore, since it’s on the mainline railway (London Waterloo to Weymouth via Basingstoke, Winchester and Southampton) you can leave the car behind and enjoy a traffic-free trip into the New Forest - tailbacks can be a problem, especially in the summer. There is excellent walking to be had from the village in all directions.
Another car-free option is the New Forest Tour bus - they run during the summer months only (July 1– September 17 this year) and provide the best views of the Forest from their open-tops. Brockenhurst is on two of the three routes, and you can hop on and off where you like. If you are visiting for longer than a day, there is plenty of accommodation to choose from in Brockenhurst, as well as a good choice of places to eat and drink, all within easy walking distance. The New Forest & Hampshire County Show, a popular annual three-day event is held here at the end of the month (July 25-27).
This circuit explores the countryside to the south-east of Brockenhurst, initially following Forestry Commission gravel tracks through woodland. These tracks are also cycle routes, with numbered wooden marker posts at each junction. The bike hire shop at Brockenhurst station sells useful walking and cycling maps, both of which show the numbers of the marker posts, so you can locate where you are on the ground at every junction. Or you can download the cycle routes map from the National Park’s website.
The next stage of the walk takes you alongside Beaulieu Heath, which was used as an airfield in World War II. Thereafter the route heads back towards Brockenhurst through Roydon Woods Nature Reserve. This ancient woodland, which is in the care of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, is home to a wide variety of birds and mammals. A worthwhile longer option takes in charming Boldre church, set apart from the village in a delightful and very peaceful hill-top setting.
Near the end of the walk, you’ll come to St Nicholas’ Church. Situated just outside Brockenhurst, this is the oldest church in the New Forest - its great yew tree is over 1000 years old. Here you’ll also find the war graves for WWI New Zealand soldiers. A memorial stained-glass window in the church, a gift from the people of New Zealand, was unveiled in 2016. In the churchyard, too, is the grave of Harry ‘Brusher’ Mills (1840 – 1905), a local character who lived in a disused charcoal burner and was famed for catching snakes (the name Brusher came about from his brushing or sweeping of the cricket pitch before a game). The Snakecatcher pub in Brockenhurst is named after him.
The walk
1. (SU303031) If starting from Brockenhurst station (SU301020), turn right out of the front of it along Station Approach, then left along the main road. Just after crossing the bridge over the Lymington River turn right to the Balmer Lawn car park. Starting from here, turn right along the B3055/Balmer Lawn Road, and as the road bends right keep ahead along the track to Standing Hat car park. Turn right (waymark post 291) and follow the track to the intersection at post 305 (ignore all turnings beforehand).
2. (SU326037) Turn right crossing the bridge over the railway and keep ahead at the next intersection (post 308) to the road (B3055). Go straight across and continue along the access road to the Roundhill Campsite passing a large pond on the left. Keep ahead to a water tower (tank), originally for RAF Beaulieu in WWII, now used by the campsite.
3. (SU338019) Turn right, keeping ahead at the intersection (cycle trail crossing). Continue along the path that follows the western edge of Beaulieu Heath, ignoring the first bridleway on the right.
4. (SU334003) Turn right at the next bridleway (signed for Brockenhurst) and follow the track past Little Dilton to a T-junction. The main route turns right here, but for the longer option via Boldre church turn left to Heywood Farm, then right along the footpath to the church. From there turn right down Church Lane, past a turning on the left and across the Lymington River. At the crossroads turn right along the lane, continuing ahead at the end along a bridleway/gravel track. Keep ahead at a junction to re-join the main route at waypoint 6, carrying on ahead.
5. (SU330002) Turn right at the T-junction and left at the next junction. Soon go through a gate into Roydon Woods Nature Reserve and follow the bridleway/track, bear left at a junction, cross the footbridge over the Lymington River and continue to a T-junction.
6. (SU316002) Turn right and at the fork bear right, eventually leaving the Nature Reserve via another gate. Continue to Church Lane and turn right to St Nicholas’ Church.
7. (SU306018) Fork right along the track (to the right of the church) which leads to the B3055. To return to the station turn left. Otherwise turn right and after 60m opposite the striking North Lodge gatehouse (entrance to Brockenhurst Park) turn left along a track/path to the railway line crossed by a footbridge. Continue ahead to the A337 and turn right alongside it back to the start.
COMPASS POINTS
Start/finish: Balmer Lawn car park next to the river (SU303031) – free parking. Alternatively, Brockenhurst station/car park (SU301020).
Map: OS Explorer OL22
Distance: 7¾ miles (12.5km). Longer option via Boldre church: 8½ miles (13.7km)
Terrain: Easy walking along gravel and other tracks through woodland and alongside heath – either on the level or very gentle gradients; short stretch along quiet country lane and also along pavement beside main road.
Time: 3½ hours (or 4 hours for longer option via Boldre church)
Refreshments: Ample choice in Brockenhurst
Public transport: Brockenhurst station is on the mainline railway from London Waterloo to Weymouth; also branch line between Brockenhurst and Lymington. Bluestar bus service no 6 from Southampton to Lymington via Brockenhurst. New Forest Tour bus in summer.
