Wilverley New Forest

Wootton Bridge via Wilverley (6.9miles)
This is a varied walk at any time of year but is particularly pleasant in summer. The walk can be started from any of three or four car parks and can be said to be a walk from one car park to another. I do not however recommend starting from the car park at Holmesley as it is a small secluded park near to the busy A35, an ideal place for thieves, and is often closed in winter to deter itinerant travellers. Wootton Bridge is a nice place to start for several different walks and is particularly good because you finish the walk unexpectedly after emerging from the wood.
So starting from Wootton Bridge we turned left on to the main road and crossing over the road we walked up to the junction at Wilverley. Just before the junction we veered to the right and crossed over the road to walk up towards Wilverley Lodge. The track follows the road and crosses over the access road to the lodge before continuing on towards the car park for Wilverley inclosure. We walked along the car park access road to enter the inclosure through the main gate. The main path, which is also a cycle route, continues ahead and when we came to an old inclosure sign with a wooden seat on the right we turned right along a minor path.
After fifty metres or so we turned left along an even smaller track which we followed until we came to a junction of tracks in a dip within an open space at which we took the path at about one o’clock. We followed this track for a short distance until we saw a track going to the right and leading us out of the woods. It is not important where you exit the wood so long as it is to the right hand side. Wilverley inclosure is a mixed deciduous and mixed coniferous wood which has been thinned over the years to encourage tree growth. Many of the coniferous trees are Douglas fir and growing quite large.
Once out of the woods we turned left and continued in a straight line following the edge of the wood as far as the main A35 road which we crossed over. The track then followed an old abandoned road over the open heathland. When we came to a bend and dip in the road we turned left between the second and third road markers through the hedge to the valley beyond. This is revealed as a hidden valley which is quite unusual in the New Forest and feels as if you have entered another world. When we did the walk in early April Lapwing were seen on the ground and one was in the air chasing off a crow. On emerging through the hedge we took a faint track round the right side of the marshy area which goes round the hill to the right. We then crossed over to the right of a low marshy area known as Holmans bottom before rising again to emerge at a minor road called Station Road. We saw a pair of bullfinch in the bushes of this low lying area.
At the road we turned left and walked along the side of the road for a short distance before crossing over the road to a car park. We maintained the direction of the car park access road over the brow of a hill to the left and followed the track downhill and over the heath. We could see a row of power cables in the distance and the track goes along the line of poles before veering off to the left towards a modern looking building on the road to Burley. On reaching this building, which is at the junction of the road and the dismantled railway, we turned left along the dismantled railway line back towards Holmesley.
At the end of the line we called in to the tearooms at Holmesley for our lunch. We then turned left out of the tearooms to walk along the road to the main A35 which we carefully crossed to start down a side road back to Wilverley. Instead of following this road we turned right opposite the forest car park through the hedge and over an old wooden stile. We followed the faint track over a bridge on the Avon Water and continued straight ahead across the water meadow to a five bar gate entering the Brownhill inclosure. The path then goes uphill to join the main track where we turned left to follow the broad path back to Wootton Bridge.