| Date: Location: Distance: Parking: Lunch: | 22 November 2017 South Gorley, Hockey's Farm Shop 7.2 miles Hockey's Hockey's ★★★☆☆ |
 Animal Alley | I had ordered some duck from Hockey’s Farm so that seemed an ideal place to start a walk and they were very amenable to us parking there. A short walk along the road and then we turned left along the farm track. We had seen one pig wandering along the road but were not quite prepared for the very large family that soon greeted us along this track. |
| It was quite an uphill walk as we made our way up to the fort on Gorley Hill and then we dropped all the way back down to the road again by Buddle. Never mind the views from the top made it a worthwhile climb. It was only about 140 feet. This path was pretty bad, deteriorating significantly at its lower levels. We had to walk quickly to avoid sinking. The path, that looks quite reasonable on the map, just opposite the Royal Oak is just as bad if not worse. |  The Last Leaves |
The next section of the walk was completely different being through open fields. There were some nice grassy tracks and only a couple of short ones over slightly muddy fields.
Turning back south just before Stuckton we came across what appeared to be a partially completed development on the right behind the church and then what appeared to be a completely deserted chicken farm, just to the left of the path. It looked quite eerie. The narrow path soon opened out into the fields where the wind became quite a bit more noticeable. We had started looking for a place to sit for a break but the scenery was rather dull. A short spell on the road and then we turned right across the fields again before joining the upper reaches of the track that starts opposite the Royal Oak. Luckily we were high enough to miss the sludge. We looked for a seat by the car park but the wind was too strong and too chilly so we moved into the woods where we found the ideal fallen tree in a well protected spot. Leaving here we found it easyer to walk along the open lawn area rather than the path that runs along the field boundary. We were soon climbing up and onto the open heathland where once again the wind was quite strong but no doubt the fresh air was good for us.
Turning back south just before Stuckton we came across what appeared to be a partially completed development on the right behind the church and then what appeared to be a completely deserted chicken farm, just to the left of the path. It looked quite eerie. The narrow path soon opened out into the fields where the wind became quite a bit more noticeable. We had started looking for a place to sit for a break but the scenery was rather dull. A short spell on the road and then we turned right across the fields again before joining the upper reaches of the track that starts opposite the Royal Oak. Luckily we were high enough to miss the sludge. We looked for a seat by the car park but the wind was too strong and too chilly so we moved into the woods where we found the ideal fallen tree in a well protected spot. Leaving here we found it easyer to walk along the open lawn area rather than the path that runs along the field boundary. We were soon climbing up and onto the open heathland where once again the wind was quite strong but no doubt the fresh air was good for us.
Shortly after turning right towards Ibsley common we stopped to have a look at a rather inconspicuous ruin which we had almost ignored. It turned out to be really interesting being the air-raid shelter for the crew of the nearby Huff Duff, the nickname for a High-frequency Direction Finding station. These were usually known by the abbreviation HF/DF (hence the nickname). This sign is on the side wall at the entrance where it is not too easy to read. More informalion can be found at http://www.newforestheritage.org.
 Just Emerged |  A Little Bit Of History |
A bright white trig pillar caught our attention by the edge of Whitefield Plantation. According to a small plaque mounted on it this has been adopted by the Ringwood & Fordingbridge Footpath Society.
We had to wend our way round a few tricky paths trying to get back to the farm track by Newton Farm. We may have missed the footpath but it looked as if the area through which it is supposed to run was waterlogged.
We had to wend our way round a few tricky paths trying to get back to the farm track by Newton Farm. We may have missed the footpath but it looked as if the area through which it is supposed to run was waterlogged.
The farm track was again occupied by animals - cows this time and they led us all the way back to Hockey's
 Keep Well Back |  Try The Beef |
We had noticed on our way out that the café at Hockey’s Farm had chile con carne on the menu for £6.25. We both had this and a really large pot of decent tea between us. We may very well be back.
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