Detritus deposited

 

Although returned to the confines of it's banks this morning, the hefty lump of tree deposited on the path across Ober Water between Ferny Knap and Clumber suggests that the stream had escaped its' confines significantly overnight. These quiet looking forest streams can quickly turn into torrents after a heavy rain.

Duck Hole

The view across Duckhole Bog, with Ferny Knap then Rhinefield Sandys' beyond.

Off road

 

One piece of advice I'd offer anyone visiting the New Forest is, if you really want to connect with the heart and soul of the forest, you can do far worse than to walk where there are no paths; yeah, it may not be as straight forward a walk with obstacles varied and plenty, but the rewards are aspects of the forest few get to see. If you can do it, it's worth doing it. 

Frogspawn

You're starting to see more frogspawn appearing in the forest's ponds and smaller waterways. It's amazing the volumes of spawn produced, made me wonder how many frogs there were out there; so I looked into it. A female frog can produce 4,000 eggs in a season, so you'd imagine healthy communities, sadly no, across the UK Common Frog populations which began falling in the 70's have declined 68% in the last 30 years. Bit of a bummer.

Wet wilderness

Winter's inclement weather changes the forest, turning it into a totally different beast from it's usual welcoming environment. It's at times like this, with swathes of the forest inundated and impassible or at least unnavigable, I imagine the forest of yesteryear; less formal or managed, a real wilderness where keeping to a route or travelling at a reasonable pace is near impossible. Year on year since the stream restoration project began over 20 years ago you've seen the forest's stream environs regain some of that wildness; its not just the streams themselves either, all the rivulets that feed them back up too, filling the surrounding woodland, creating an even more extensive obstacle. It makes for interesting walks.

New causeway

Credit where credit is due. I'm regularly berating the New Forest National Parks Authority for their failure to maintain the forest's infrastructure, therefore in the pursuit of balance I commend them on crating a new causeway across a notoriously seasonally impassible wet area which feeds Duck Hole Bog; so bravo. Now I going to sound churlish, though, and it's a criticism I've recently voiced, knowing this spot I fear the causeway, cool and welcome as it is, may find itself inaccessible in aforementioned wet area when wet proper; I think it may have benefited from having longer raised approaches. Time will tell.  Still, it was very useful today, replacing as it has a jumble of wooden flotsam and jetsam that you used to have to try and negotiate.    

Ferny Knap Barrow

Jack had been busy in the forest overnight, the moat of Ferny Knap's larger Iron Age Round Barrow was frozen solid, and the heather and browned bracken which cover and surround in were dusted crunchy white. A stunning winter world.  It's been a long while since we've seen the forest like this, too long in fact. This is premium walking weather, and rare enough for it to be really savoured and enjoyed.

Ober Water

The forest has been dry this winter, but for a handful of occasions we've been able to cross the forests streams without undue drama, although not today, today was how the forest should have been for most of the last couple of months. Between the higher dry ground of Ferny Knap and Rhinefield Sandy's, Ober Water flows through low wet grassland and heath. Usually a narrow stream when engorged as this morning the waters spill out, filling a myriad of former channels, creating a formidable obstacle. Crossing Ober Water was a bit of a kerfuffle today.

The New Forest

When people think of the New Forest I'm sure it's of expansive woodlands, of which there are some 230 sq mi of broadleaved woodlands and enclosed mixed plantation, although there are also 59 sq mi of open grassland, heathland and wetland. The photo above is representative of much of the forests heathland, a mixture of dry heathland with pockets of wetland heath, wetland and carr woodland filling hollows in the undulating landscape. Many of the wetland heath areas are impassible, especially through the wet seasons, punctuated as they are by wetland proper, you'll often find yourself following the contours of the land, making a 5 minute walk as the crow flies, a 20 walk.  This view is of the lower reaches of Duck Hole and Duck Hole Bog taken from one of the Bronze Age Round Barrows which border Ferny Knap enclosure (one of the smaller enclosures 21 acres, enclosed 1843. Lovely morning.