Tag Archives: New Forest

A Lepe Finish

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We’re only at Ashurst campsite for two nights and it seems churlish to ignore the meal offerings at the pub next door so we wander there in the early evening, avoiding the short cut across the field due to its having stiles to cross- a no-no for me at the moment.

It isn’t busy, in spite of the site next door but service still appears a bit slow. One issue with hip replacement is there are some restrictions on what I can and can’t do. I must sleep on my back, I mustn’t bend more than 90 degrees or twist and when sitting my operated leg must be sloping down. It surprises me how many seats aren’t level or actually tip back. I need to scrutinise every venue’s furniture to find a suitable seat. Benches aren’t good so I choose a table with rattan dining chairs and have to take a cushion from one to put behind my back.

These days most menus disappoint me. It’s hard to find anything to eat that isn’t smothered in some chilli or garlic product. The one starter we choose to share is ‘off’, leaving us with one option. I feel bad for the amenable waiter who is trying his best, repeatedly going to find out from the chef if anything is available for me to eat. I must say here that it isn’t down to fussiness on my part- until I was diagnosed with UC I ate anything and everything. Nowadays restaurants are much the same in that nearly every item has been doused with a sauce, or an oil or a marinade containing chilli or garlic [2 items I’m not able to eat], leaving me with an option of fish or steak and chips. Ho hum…

The lamb cutlets are very good [even though the kitchen couldn’t resist putting hot, spicy salsa on the side!].

Next morning it’s time to pack up and leave, but we’re not off home yet and have promised ourselves a day at Lepe country park- a Hampshire park next to the sea with outstanding views over the Isle of Wight and the coast. There’s a good car park next to the beach, which is filling up quickly as we arrive. Nevertheless, by driving to the end and some judicious manoeuvering, the van gets parked. Here, there’s a brisk, refreshing breeze whipping the sea up into white caps, sailing boats on the horizon. It’s not a wide, sandy beach, rather more shingly and wild, but has a charm of its own and plenty to look at.

Up, then, out of the car park and to the park path, walking on a gravel surface which turns to sand after a while. There’s a bizarre, ‘D-Day’ play park featuring climbing nets and tunnels like an assault course. Some, like us, are here for the walk, others for a quiet piece of beach. But few have opted to come this far. Further on there are remnants of the D-Day departures from the second world war.

It’s time to turn back, and down to the cafe for a modest but respectable lunch then coffee in the van before we think about how we’ll get home. Our normal route is blocked by a serious fire which has caused people to abandon vehicles on the tarmac, has destroyed the road’s surface and buckled barriers. But our route takes us through Beaulieu, where some donkeys are holding up a queue of traffic by sheltering in the shade on a bend, which is a cute sight.

A little local knowledge goes a long way so by weaving our way through the New Forest roads we are home. Now to unload..

Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com

The Return

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Here we are- much, much sooner than we ever expected, out in our van. Not far, of course- only a stone’s throw from home, in the New Forest, one of the UK’s historic, iconic national parks. Here there are all manner of wonderful treasures: huge, ancient, English oaks plus all our other native trees, heaths with purple heather, ponds and lakes, many species of birds, lizards, insects and other creatures, wild, roaming ponies, cows, donkeys and pigs. There are picturesque villages and small towns, like Lyndhurst, historic centres like Bucklers Hard, wildlife sanctuaries, open farms. And of course- campsites.

This site, at Ashurst, is next to both a pub and a railway station, which is beyond handy! Husband has brought his bike, since the forest trails and wonderful, but my bike must, for now, remain in our garage. I’m not allowed to cycle…yet. But I am, now, able to walk, and this I intend to do.

We’re experiencing our fifth heatwave this summer here in the south of the UK and have been officially in drought for weeks. When we arrive to site, we search for a shady spot, selecting a place under the shade of a large oak. Next to us, a group of families with tents and caravans sets up, Tents, I feel, will be very hot indeed. The assorted children ride their bikes round in little convoys in time-honoured fashion. Later there’s a small gang of them sitting under the oak tree enjoying the shade and the tree itself.

The shade works well for us. In the evening we sit outside to eat and as we do, an ominous, billowing cloud begins to appear- brownish purple in colour and with shreds of blackened vegetation landing on the table. This is not a rain cloud.

In the forest, not too close to us but present, a fire is taking hold. It’s not a worry for us because we can move very quickly and we know we’ll be warned if necessary.

Next morning we realise there’s a snag with parking in this shady spot. There’s no electric hook-up at Ashurst site and we need all the sunlight we can get for our solar panel to charge the leisure batteries and keep our fridge, lights etc going. We opt to move into the open. It’s hot, yes, but not unbearable under the awning. I set off to walk around the site, which, after several open areas, plunges back into dense woodland and it’s lovely, deep shade. Far at the back, beyond a small footbridge which would have spanned a stream, there’s a boggy area which may have been a pond as it’s green and muddy.

I keep going- along the back of the site, up and round, There are one or two solitary walkers like me and a couple of cyclists. There is much evidence of fallen trees although, on the whole the trees, bracken and vegetation seem to be surviving. Even the brambles are offering up some acceptable blackberries in places.

Around a bend I join a tarmac road, the site and residents sharing it for a distance. But it’s less shady and I turn right across the woods to return to site, pleased to have walked a mile and a half- my longest distance since major surgery on my hip. Hooray!

Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com

Local or Loco

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In the UK autumn began with cold, unpleasant weather. September here is usually a mild, calming down kind of month, cooling from the summer’s stifling heatwaves but still with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. This year’s September was disappointing. October, however has offered many sunny days and the sun still has some warmth.

Having missed out on our September van odyssey, we’ve been day tripping from home as well as tucking the garden in for the winter. Lucky as we are to live between the sea and one of the UK’s most iconic national parks, we’re spoilt for choice, although there isn’t really anywhere that’s new, these days!

There are places where the New Forest National Park meets the sea and we’re headed to one- at Lepe, where a beachside cafe and car park overlook the section of the English channel called the Solent and the Isle of Wight and its iconic ‘Needles’ rocks. On the way we pass through Beaulieu village with its chocolate-box charm and pass groups of New Forest ponies grazing by the roadsides as well as shaggy cattle and wriggling pigs, foraging for acorns in a ditch. We forget, sometimes, that all of this nature and wildlife is on our doorstep!

It’s quite busy even on this autumn afternoon, and some hardy souls are in the sea- which is, of course, at its warmest from summer heat. In the car park there’s one of these pop-up sauna cabins that seems to be the fashion this year, which explains the proliferation of sea swimmers, too.

The cafe and outbuildings are pleasing, timber structures. After a short walk we go up the ramp to the cafe, which has large windows facing the Isle of Wight, then it’s time to move on, to yet another forest meets sea spot- Calshot. The beach here is pebbly but there are great views of the shipping going past on Southampton water. In the distance you can see Portsmouth, too, the Spinnaker tower standing out. There’s a line of beach huts here, although no one in residence today in spite of warm sunshine.

Sometimes cruise ships come past on their way in or out of the port at Southampton, but today there’s only a distant tanker plus the Isle of Wight ferry going backwards and forwards. Further on towards the end of the spit, where the shipping channel bisects the land, there is a castle, built by Henry VIII. Tall pylons and towers of the Fawley oil refinery protrude from the landward side forest.

We drive back along the forest roads again, past open, heather clad common and through dense forest. The leaves haven’t changed colour yet but there are signs of the yellow, umber , gold and red that are to come. Redwoods tower above the ornamental drive and the late afternoon sun glints and glitters through the branches. Lovely.

Then it’s home and back to phoning the AA road rescue…

Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com

Going Local

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Home from our two week dash to Brittany we unload, deal with domestics, undertake some garden rescue [drought had been threatening to murder many plants], clean the van and make another, impromtu dash; this time to the New Forest, which is on our doorstep and to a favourite spot- Holland’s Wood at Brockenhurst.

We choose midweek, calculating that the weekend will elicit throngs of campers into the Forest and it’s certainly quiet as we arrive in the early afternoon. Husband is keen to try out a plan he had devised to manage for longer without electric hook-up [Holland’s Wood has none]. Our ancient camping gas/electric fridge has been resurrected for use outside, now that there is an external gas outlet on the van, freeing up solar power for other devices.

In the old, tent camping days the gas fridge was a boon and much used on trips. Subsequently it has been used as an extra fridge at parties or during the freezer defrosting process.

For the uninitiated, the New Forest National Park covers app 150 square miles of land in the south of England and is home to a vast variety of wildlife as well as livestock- pigs, cattle, donkeys and ponies that roam unrestricted throughout the park. The animals, in particular the ponies have adapted to visitors and developed skills in stalking and mugging and anyone sitting down to enjoy an innocent picnic can expect to be gatecrashed by a couple of hungry, marauding ponies.

Ponies, donkeys and cows also wander into the campsites, weaving expertly through and around tents, vans and motorhomes and helping themselves to anything vaguely food related. It’s mid-morning when a tribe meanders into Hollands Wood, one of the mares accompanied by a young foal, all legs and eyelashes. He’s curious, sniffing and nibbling a campervan. Camera at the ready, I go to watch, although not so close as to upset his protective mum. He spots me and walks towards me and I can’t help stretching out a hand, at which he puts his soft nose into it. The mare continues to graze, unperturbed. It’s a wonderful moment.

One reason for choosing Holland’s Wood site is proximity to Brockenhurst village, with its shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants, although walking there and back involves trudging along by the busy main road for some of it. It’s a cute place though, with a parade of shops and a railway station, making it just about possible to go camping by train.

Due to wrist surgery I’ve not cycled for about a year and this is the occasion for trying it out- first around the relatively flat campsite a few times, during which my legs begin to hurt already, then for a short ride on a forest track. The gravelly track is bumpy and I’ve not brought my support straps, so post-cycle my wrist is not too happy!

We BBQ on our new gas, outdoor cooker then the evening closes in with some magnificent thunder and lightning plus a few showers and we sit outside under the awning to enjoy the spectacle.

Next day is a rest for wrists and we walk. We go through the village and up to picturesque St Nicholas church, which we weren’t able to see inside the last time we looked as its roof had collapsed. It’s a tiny and beautiful church and has a special stained glass window donated by New Zealand, in recognition of the health care given to their war veterans in the First World War.

Walking in the New Forest is always rewarding and I feel we’ve earned the meal we have in The Huntsman, just along the road. We leave on Friday, just as others are streaming in to the site, encampments of tents springing up and it’s looking much busier. Goodbye for now but we’ll be back again soon…

Grace is also known as the novelist, Jane Deans. Her new novel, The Conways at Earthsend is now out and available from Amazon, Waterstones, Goodreads, W H Smith, Pegasus Publishing and many more sites. Visit my website: janedeans.com or my author page on Facebook: (1) Jane Deans, Novellist, Short Fiction and Blog | Facebook.

Que Sera Sera [and era era]

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This time last year I posted a rambling, meandering piece about regret. Once you get into what I shall call somewhat older age the achievements you have not made may have begun to assemble into a substantial and growing heap. They may even have become a mountain. Ambition and regret are linked together like health and sickness.
As children we might begin with some outlandish and bizarre ideas about what we would like to do as adults. I still remember the cruel taunts and guffaws of laughter from my family that met my announcement at the supper table that I would become a missionary. I would have been about six years old at this point. There followed a series of ambitious plans for my adult occupation: ballet dancer, show jumping champion, vet, model, make-up artist, graphic designer. These aspirations followed my childhood devotions, each being thwarted by the arrival of the next love-of-my-life. It seemed as if I went from worshipping Margot Fonteyn one week to reading every book penned by Josephine Pullein-Thompson the next. ‘Wish for a Pony’ was one of my favourites.
After we’d moved to the flat, bleak, backward countryside of the fens my mother was fond of saying I could have had a pony if we’d stayed within the environs of the New Forest, from whence we’d come. This was small comfort to my pining, desperate, pony-mad self. Four years later, once we’d moved again [to the horse-friendly environment of Kent], I was able to indulge my passion by saving up two weeks of pocket money to buy one hour of horse riding every fortnight. My mother advised that my ballet dancing legs would be ‘ruined’. During one thrilling ride involving leaping ditches and straddling an unreliable steed I was thrown, resulting in a broken arm and three months of being encased in plaster of Paris from finger to shoulder. During this enforced separation from the realms of horsedom I underwent a metamorphosis and became interested in the mysterious creatures that were boys.
In a simultaneous bid to influence my career choice, my father, frustrated musician that he was, foisted a clarinet upon me [plus an abusive teacher-but that is another story] in hopes that I, the last of his three children might become a maestro. Sometimes it is possible to influence or shape your child’s destiny. More often it is not. Tennis players often come from a fanatically tennis-mad background, but to me it seems a selfish and egocentric policy to expect your child to achieve what you could not; better to support them in whatever pursuit they show aptitude or interest in. For me, this was not the clarinet, or any other instrument.
Ultimately I did what the vast majority of people do and drifted into a career that would do. In fact teaching did serve very well. I was able to do it adequately, but to ‘job’ rather than career level. It allowed me to spend the holiday periods with my own children and eventually paid out a reasonable pension; therefore no complaints. Career options shrink with age. I shall not, now be winning Wimbledon, dancing the lead in Swan Lake or painting any masterpieces. Still-if dementia can hold off for a bit there is an outside chance I may get a novel published. Just published will do; it doesn’t have to top the Waterstone’s chart-don’t want to be too ambitious at my age!