Woodgreen

20/9/2018

Date:
Location:
Distance:
Parking:
Lunch:

20 September 2018
Woodgreen
5.8 miles
Bat and Ball
Bat and Ball

We turned left out of the Bat and Ball and then took the first road on the left towards Woodgreen. Instead of crossing the bridge we then went along the little slip road that leads to the long disused Breamore Halt Station. It sounds a little tedious to start a walk with a long section of disused railway track but this is not at all like most of its namesakes. It is in fact an interesting, narrow, winding grassy track with bushes and brambles growing along its sides. The track itself had obviously been cut fairly recently.

Breamore Halt

The Disused Track

We continued past the first footpath signed to South Chagford Farm and took the second turning which is more like a road than a track. The first turning would have been just as good! The route through the farm did not seem to follow that marked on the OS map but was not hard to find. We missed the track that leads between the numerous waterways shown on the map but found our way across towards the middle of the field. This could have been very tricky if there had been much rain. There is however a small bridge that we would have found if we had continued straight on. There is a large bridge across the river where we joined the Avon Valley Path.

Crossing the road we visited StMary's Church with its rather fine Good Shepherd window and then stopped to admire Hale House. There is not a lot of information available about the house which is in private ownership and not open to the public. A brief history can be found at:
http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/1581/history
and if you know anyone who is getting married they could try:
https://bellissimo-weddings.co.uk/venue/hale-park/
The path continues to one side of the impressive drive with its magnificent avenue of trees.

I Am The Good Shepherd

Hayle House

The Avenue

The short walk along the road requires a bit of caution as it is very narrow and twisty. This is followed by a lovely route through the woods which was most enjoyable even on this rather dull day. It would be even better when the Rhododendrons are in bloom. One slightly tricky point was where we came out of the woods just by the drive to Higherend Farm. There is a style just to the left which we nearly missed. It was plane sailing from there to Woodgreen where there is a bit of road work to follow. This was made more interesting by the presence of the Mill, a wonderful old building where it appears you can book for a short holiday.
https://www.shortstayhomes.co.uk/new-forest/attachment/mill-house-at-woodgreen-in-the-new-forest
We walked over the bridge on our way back to the Bat and Ball and spotted a prolific apple tree which we re-visited after our lunch.