New Forest Set Thorns Inclosure from the Rising Sun

14/1/2015

Date:
Location:
Walk Leader:
Participants:
Distance:
Parking:
Lunch:

14th January 2015
New Forest starting at the Rising Sun
Rob
Rob, Peter, Ray
7.3 miles
Rising Sun car park
Rising Sun ★★

The first outing for Rob's iPad mini complete with OS MapFinder.

Todays walk in the New Forest was a bit different from most of our recents efforts in this area - apart from Rob's new technology. It did not start on a cycle track. In fact it did not touch a cycle track until we were about a third of the way round.
That added to the excitement, the sense of adventure and the distance we walked.
It was almost impossible to walk in a straight line and we zigged and zagged all over the place trying to keep our feet dry. The picture below the map is by far the most extreme example. It seemed like a fine idea to cross Elkhams Grave (an ancient Barrow) and head for the footbridge across Avon Water. The problem only became apparent when we were about 80 yards or so from the bridge. There was not just one stream but a multitude of smaller streams which were all just too wide to walk across. The picture below the map is a GPS track of our actual route. An 80 yard walk turned into nearly half a mile! We were persistent and we did get across but we still had to jump.
Turning to the north just after the bridge the path was still fairly wet but not that bad. Eventually we turned into the Inclosure and joined the cycle track and the walking became a lot easier but not as much fun! We were quite surprised to see a fair number of people camping in the Setthorns camp site. This is a lovely quiet site but has no toilet or shower facilities. The path was dry from here back to the Rising Sun but as the last photograph, taken from the disused railway, shows the forest below was saturated.
We had one last little section "off piste" when we got bored with the cycle track at the north westerly part of our stroll through Wootton Coppice Inclosure and so took to the woods.
The remainder of the walk back to the Rising Sun was uneventful but by now the sun was fading fast and the grey clouds were coming in.
We had a pleasant lunch at the Rising Sun. Liver and bacon casserole with roast vegetables and chips and three sensibly sized pots of tea each with extra water went down very nicely.