Lymington Reedbed and the Burrard Monument

(S/E) Leave Walhampton Arms car park and turn right along the (Main Road) B3054, passing the entrance to Walhampton School.

(1) When the road bends right, take the track leading straight on, beyond a metal gate. At a gate into a farm compound, take the narrow path on the right. Level with the end of a barn you reach a junction – in all but the driest conditions you are advised to turn right, as the path ahead can be very muddy.

(2) Whichever path you take, when you reach Hundred lane, turn left and follow the lane between houses and gardens to a triangular junction with a road on the left, where you carry straight on.

Pass the entrance to Southlands School on a right-hand bend and take the driveway ahead, with a sign for Vicars Hill Farm. The surfaced drive descends to the farm; take a grassy path straight ahead between the buildings that leads down to the valley bottom.

(3) Turn left along a narrow path, close to the river at first and then with a large reedbed to your right, sometimes in the open but often among trees. Pass a wooden gate partway along. After 600 yards you meet a road (Undershore); turn right and follow the road for half a mile, still with the reedbed behind the hedge to your right, until you reach the junction with the B3054.

(4) (For a slightly shorter walk, turn left just before the junction, through a metal gate, onto a permitted path (Walhampton Hill) that leads parallel to the B-road back to the departure, where you can turn left to return to the Walhampton.)

• For the longer walk via the Burrard Monument, turn right along the main road (B3054). When the road bends right to cross the Lymington River, take Undershore Road, straight ahead, with the wide river basin on your right.

(5) Follow the pavement until you reach a house on the right overlooking the river, where you cross to the left-hand side and join a side road. Ignore the gravelly private road on the left, then turn left between a New Forest boundary marker and a notice welcoming you to the Walhampton Monument site.

Follow the footpath up the edge of the wood to the obelisk. Turn left along Monument Lane (past a small parking area) then follow the road round a left-hand bend and back to the Walhampton Arms. (S/E)

This route can be shortened by omitting the monument loop. The woodland and riverside sections can be rather muddy. No stiles. Allow up to 11⁄2 hours for the main (longer) route.

Parking at the Walhampton Arms is for patrons only. Dogs are welcome in the hard-floored areas.

Pdf Link : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/Ha...

The Walhampton Arms
Walhampton Hill, Lymington SO41 5RE
Tel 01590 673113
Web www.walhamptonarmslymington.co.uk
Email contact@walhamptonarms.co.uk

• Hatchet Pond, the largest area of fresh water in the Forest, can be busy at times, but the western and northern shores are quieter.

• Most of the ponies you will see roaming wild in the Forest are mares, foals and geldings. The number of stallions is tightly controlled and their releases limited to spring and summer.

• The moist areas of the forest, such as this at the head of Hatchet Pond, are home to some of the more interesting species of flora and fauna. Sundew grows here, and Redshank and Lapwing breed.

• The oldest open-air lido in Britain, and also one of the largest, the Lymington Sea Water Baths

are Grade II listed.

• The marshes between Keyhaven and Lymington, many of them formed from the remnants of former saltpans, comprise one of the best birdwatching areas on the south coast. Key species include Avocet, Spoonbill, Marsh Harrier and Dartford Warbler. The whole area is an SSSI.

• Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes offer good views of Hurst Castle, built by Henry VIII, and the north coast of the Isle of Wight, including the famous Needles rocks and lighthouse.

• Reed Warblers and the rarer Cetti’s Warbler can be heard along the River Lymington.

• The Solent foreshore and Isle of Wight.

• The Burrard Monument, “one of Britain’s finest obelisks”, commemorates Admiral Sir Harry Burrard Neale (1765–1840), who is thought to have been born at Walhampton House.