Wootton Bridge to Holmsley

We did this walk in early December after the rainiest November since the early nineteen fifties. We knew the ground would be very wet and we would be unlikely to see anything unusual but just walking in the countryside would be a bonus after being confined indoors during the wet weather. The walk was chosen because most of the paths are on gravel or tarmac and raised above the level of the forest floor. At other times of year there are butterflies, interesting flora and birds to be seen but at this time of year even the leaves on the trees have deserted us.
The start of the walk is from the car park at Wootton Bridge near Wilverley and after exiting the car park back on to the road we turn right over the bridge crossing the Avon Water. Immediately after the bridge we turn right into the woods along a gravelled bridleway through a wooden gate. This is a popular horse riding track and we opened the gate to allow two riders through before entering ourselves. Several other riders passed or overtook us during the walk.
It was immediately obvious on entering the woods that a great deal of forestry work had recently taken place. The woods had been thinned by cutting down Scots pine trees. The trunks had been sawn to exactly the same length and arranged in stacks at the side of the track; most of the stacks lying over the drainage ditches. Forestry work seems to do a great deal of damage to the forest floor but it does not take long to recover. An old tractor tyre left by the foresters could take a while longer however.
When we arrived at a fork in the path we took the right hand path because the left hand track tends to retain water although both end up at roughly the same point. During the spring and summer there are interesting plants along the track such as blue and white irises and other bog plants but of course there are none in the winter. Butterflies and some dragonflies are also present. When the trees thin out we emerge on to a shrubby heath and take a minor path which cuts the corner off the bridleway before leaving through a gate on to the busy A35.
Taking care to cross the road we walk to the left and then right between houses down a minor tarmac road which goes to Burley. There is very little traffic on this road and it makes walking easy in wet weather. The road goes down in a dip about halfway along and a stream passes under the road but in wet conditions the stream overflows and creates a ford which was the case when we went along. Fortunately there is a footbridge at the side so we did not get wet. The road emerges from Holmesley inclosure at Holmesley Lodge and goes downhill past a car park to meet up with the dismantled railway which is where we turn right to walk along the track.


The old railway line goes across a bog and bog woodland on a raised embankment which makes access a lot easier during wet periods. Bog woodland is quite rare in England and consists of peaty areas with a high water table and low nutrients which restrict the growth of trees such as silver birch or Scots pine. After walking in a straight line along the old railway line it emerges at Holmesley station. We had our packed lunch sitting on the old platform but during the summer we sit outside at Holmesley tea rooms. The porters or stationmaster tea variations go down well after a walk on a hot sunny day.
After walking past the entrance to the tea rooms we continue up to the main road and cross over to the Wilverley road. Still at the junction and opposite an abandoned car park we walk through the bushes and over a stile into the water meadows. This is the only part of the walk on soft waterlogged ground but by careful choice of paths we can avoid getting our feet wet. The path crosses a footbridge over the Avon water and we head diagonally across the field to a barred gate into the woods. During the summer a walk alongside the Avon water provides one of the finest walks in the forest but is best avoided in wet weather. On entering the forest the path leads uphill on a muddy track to rejoin the path we walked along earlier where we turn left to retrace our path back to the car park.
A highlight of our walk happened as we approached the gate back into the forest when we saw a herd of twenty to thirty fallow deer crossing the track from left to right. As we went through the gate about half of the herd decided they did not like this part of the forest and ran back again to our left.