The New Forest was an inspired choice for today.  The weather was perfect for a stroll around the heathland and the autumn colours were just starting to show through.
​After crossing the ford we were faced with quite a steep climb unto the "Pillow Mounds" and the ridge across Rockford Common but this provided some lovely views across the valley towards Digden Bottom.  The early morning mist made it quite atmospheric but faded quite quickly

There were quite a lot of crab apples particularly as we dropped down towards Appleslade Bottom.  Crossing the road we followed a narrow track alongside a private drive, crossing some very muddy ground and turning onto the road at Toms Farm.  We crossed Dockens Water at the ford and headed out onto the open heathland stopping at the top for refreshments and took the opportunity to send Rob a picture of the view to aid his recovery.   

We then took a fairly direct route back to Moyles Court as a birthday party was beckoning our walk leader!

For lunch we revisited The Horns and had some very acceptable sausage and mash.  £11.49 for two meals seemed most reasonable although Clive's bowl of soup was a little meagre.

An excellent walk, slightly shorter walk than normal but most enjoyable with a few hills to get the pulse rate up a bit.

It looks as if it was a wise decision to keep our hands off this as the wildlife insight web site says the hairs of some caterpillars such as the Pale Tussock moth (Calliteara pudibunda)  can be extremely irritating.

We stopped at the Cat and Fiddle, a Harvester establishment, for our lunch and we were pleasantly surprised.  The Early Bird menu included Gammon egg, tomato, mushroom and chips for £5.99, an extra egg for 49p.  The endless supply of tea for £2.49 is a nice idea but it was not as hot as it should have been.  The waitress tried her best but the urn is temperature controlled apparently.  There is also, of course, the free unlimited salad.  Real value for money and the gammon was pretty good quality especially for the price.

It was quite overcast and gloomy when we started but the forecast said that the high winds would soon clear the clouds away.  The principle was right but the timing a bit astray.
We walked up past the church following the small paths that enabled us to keep off the road and head towards Godlingston Heath.  You can see from the map that we hit a snag in the area of Knowl Hill.  The bridleway so clear on the map is nowhere to be seen on the ground.  It started off looking OK but gradually degenerated and became impassable.  The "other road or track" marked to the south west of the bridleway was fine and we took that to Greenland.  There are some good views from this path firstly back towards the Agglestone Rock and then over the harbour.
(see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agglestone_Rock)
The wind had built up and was really quite strong so we decided to wait until we were protected by the trees before stopping for our break today.  We found a nice spot in the trees but were surprised to see a large plastic bucket nearby.  It appeared to be full of some form of alien gunge but no aliens appeared when we poked it!
On the way to Kingswood Heath we met a team of three guys spraying rhododendrons to help regenerate the heath.  Two of them were desperate for a cigarette but had no lighter.  So desperate were they that they were trying to create fire by rubbing sticks together - sad?
The scenery changed quite dramatically again as we left the woods and went through the heath an up onto the golf course.  We did not see a single player out on the course in spite of it being, by now, a beautiful sunny afternoon.  The high winds must have put them off.  It is a surprisingly long climb up onto the top of the heath but the views from the top are well worth the effort.  It was then downhill all the way, apart from a small detour to avoid the road again, and we were back at the church.  It was open when we got there and so we went inside.  St Nicholas is a Norman church probably built before the end of the 11th Century.  Unfortunately we missed the sexy bits.  You can catch up by visiting:
http://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/studland.html
We thought it would be good to visit The Sandford Pub for lunch.  It changed hands in September 2014, has undergone a face lift and their web site says their ethos is to provide great food cooked to the highest standard.  We were VERY disappointed.  This is only the second time in 12 years of walking, and having a pub lunch, almost every Wednesday that I have gone to the trouble of emailing the owners to say just how bad I thought their food was. If I ever get a reply I will add it to this post.