Walk Leader
Kevin Payne
Capacity
11
The New Forest is such an iconic place it is difficult to choose one location over another to photograph, and what better time to photograph the New Forest than in the Autumn. Whilst every season offers photo opportunities Autumn has to be my favourite.
I am fortunate enough to have lived either close to the New Forest or within its boundaries for most of my life and which is why I have selected two very different locations to photograph on this walk, the first being Ober Water, which is close to Brockenhurst, the second Linford Bottom near Ringwood. We will start at Ober Water and when finished there move on to Linford Bottom. Both locations are easily accessible from car parks near by but there will be a reasonable amount of walking to do with a medium incline on the walk at Linford Bottom, but nothing overly strenuous.
There is a small stream at both locations although at Linford Bottom we will be embarking on a circular walk through some old forest comprising mainly Oak trees. The weather at this time of year could range from bright sunny days, to overcast or wet and good footwear is a must, I would recommend wellington boots, especially if you want to photograph from near or in the stream. Waterproof hiking boots is the minimum I would recommend.
The walks will provide the opportunity to photograph a variety of trees in their autumn hues (hopefully), their reflections in a stream, a typical New Forest wooden bridge across a stream, fallen leaves, acorns and other forest fruits, moss/ lichen, ferns, fungi (if weather has been suitable - sometimes the dry summer has extended late into autumn and the fungi has yet to appear) and New Forest ponies. The two main lenses I would recommend would be a medium zoom lens e.g., 24-70mm and a macro lens.
Walk Location
50.8232618657, -1.6117520620047
Walk Directions
From Whitefield Moor car park there is a short walk across open moorland to where we will be photographing over a relatively small area where Mill Brook flows through a forested area. Here, we will have the opportunity to photograph not only the trees themselves but the tangle of their roots, the reflection of the trees in the stream as well as their proximity to a typical New Forest wooden bridge across the stream. At Linford Bottom we will be covering a much larger area and whilst it offers similar opportunities to Ober Water there is also much more variation. From the car park at Linford Bottom we will walk across an open area before coming to a forested area comprising mainly of Oak trees, here we will head up a mild incline to another open area where we will come to the first pond, We will then head back through the forest down to the stream which will bring us to the second pond after which we will follow the stream back to the car park. We will come across New Forest ponies aplenty at both locations and if fortunate enough we may spot deer, although they tend to keep well away from groups of people. If we have had sufficient rain and it is damp enough there will be the opportunity to photograph fungi as well.
Accessibility
Ober Water is accessed off Rhinefield Road where we will meet at the Whitefield Moor car park, shown on the map. From Lyndhurst follow the A35 towards Christchurch and take the second turning on the left (after exiting Lyndhurst proper) into Rhinefield Ornamental Drive which will turn into Rhinefield Road after approximately 2 km. Whitefield Moor car park is the second car park on the left after it becomes Rhinefield Road, about 1.5km further on. The first is Puttles Bridge car park. After finishing at Ober Water we will proceed by car through Burley on to the outskirts of Ringwood and Linford Bottom car park grid reference SU181071, Google Maps reference https://goo.gl/maps/oddWn4eUtFCxUsK57.
Feedback Meeting Type
Zoom
Feedback Talk Date and Time
Feedback Talk Directions
The feedback talk will likely be over Zoom but this will be determined on the walk.