2012 PWMN Rally

New Forest National Park 15th, 16th & 17th June

Tour Routes and Rally Information

Rally hosts: Toby & Linda Sears

Third annual PWMN Rally 15th-17th June 2012

Dear

Welcome to the New Forest and our third annual rally. This year our hosts are Toby and Linda Sears, supporters of the PWMN from the outset and local residents in this beautiful National Park.

Toby and Linda have worked tirelessly to put together two superb tour routes which take in a number of the many places of interest to be found in this part of . When Trevor Wilkinson and I tested the Saturday route at the end of May we were both struck by the many changes in scenery experienced during the 85 mile journey. The tour starts in a typical heathland New Forest setting and moves onto broad leaved woodland eventually exiting in rolling chalk down-land. While this exploratory trip was made in a ‘modern’ we didn’t need much of an imagination to appreciate how much closer to nature we would have felt at 35 MPH in an 80 year old car.

The Saturday and Sunday morning tours form just part of our weekend. On top of that we have today’s pub gathering which represents an ideal opportunity to meet up with your fellow rallyists and of course we have the Rally Dinner at Shorefield Park on Saturday night. In addition there are a number of stops planned during the course of the tours providing further opportunities for socialising and catching up on all the Minor gossip. These stops include a picnic lunch halt on Saturday and for some, the Saturday tour concludes with a cream tea extravaganza!

As in the past there are no competitive elements to the rally what-so-ever, unless of course you include the quiz questions Toby and Linda have included on the Saturday Tour itinerary.

In conclusion a huge personal Thank you for supporting the rally and also a massive Thanks to Toby and Linda for making it all possible. In the end it’s our mutual admiration of the pre-war Morris Minor that brings us all together each year and long may it continue to do so. I hope you enjoy the activities planned and that the weather Gods smile upon us.

Happy Minoring,

Chris Lambert

Brief Itinerary

Friday 15th June

7:00 PM onwards: Assemble at The Plough Inn, Tiptoe

Saturday 16th June

9:00 AM: Assemble at the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum. Please park neatly in front of the row of vintage petrol pumps. Leave the museum car park to commence the tour no later than 9:30 AM.

Lunchtime: Many of the cars will be assembling in the Hill Fort car park where picnic facilities are available in an adjoining field.

4:00 PM (ish): For those who have ordered cream teas, the Station House staff at Tiptoe will be expecting you. Hand over your cream tea vouchers here.

7:00 PM: Arrival at Shorefield Park main car park and make your way to The Bistro restaurant for the rally dinner.

Sunday 17th June

9:30 AM: Assemble once again for the short Sunday morning coastal tour.

Lunchtime: For those wishing to look around the Motorcycle Museum a concessionary rate of £6 per head will be charged. The Museum also has a 40 seat restaurant where hot and cold lunches can be purchased.

PM: No rally activities planned.

7:00 PM: For those that have stayed on a farewell Pub meet will take place at The Royal Oak, Downton.

Useful Post Codes:

Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum: BH25 5SZ

Shorefield Park: SO41 OLH

Station House Tea Rooms: BH24 4HY

The Plough Inn: SO41 6FQ

The Royal Oak: SO41 OLA

2012 Pre-war Minor Network Rally Notes and Notices

Please take some time to read through these notices before venturing forth on Saturday morning.

CAUTION: While Toby and Linda have attempted to keep us away from busy main roads where ever possible, our tours inevitably involve using these roads occasionally. In particular please exercise extreme caution when approaching and crossing junctions of all types.

Getting Lost: If you do lose your way please consult a road atlas to find your way back onto the route. As an old sage (my father) once said “Getting lost in the U.K. is nothing to worry about as you can’t go too far without meeting a coastline.”

Fuel: For those of us without fuel gauges in our cars please fill up with petrol before starting out on either of the tours. Toby has kindly provided a list of local fuel stations and there are others to be found en route.

Breakdowns: In the event of a breakdown, please call your breakdown service provider (e.g. A.A. or R.A.C.). They will ask you if you wish to be recovered. If the breakdown looks to be fixable ask to be recovered to the address at which you are staying where the combined expertise of the PWMN will assemble and may be able to help. If in the unfortunate event that the breakdown appears to be terminal then ask to be recovered to your home address. Most breakdown policies will only allow one recovery and therefore recovery to your weekend holiday location will invariably mean a recovery charge being incurred should the problem not be fixable and a further recovery home is then required.

Emergency Telephone Number: My mobile number will be switched on throughout the rally period. You may have to leave a message as my Minor doesn’t have a ‘hands-free’ device and I wouldn’t be able to hear you even if it did! My mobile number is 07815 177564. Toby can also be contacted on 07790 533619

Packed Lunches: For those who have ordered packed lunches for the Saturday tour, they will be distributed from 9:00 AM onwards in the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum car park prior to our departure on the tour. A lunch time stop has been programed into the route (see instructions) although you are of course free to stop wherever you wish for your lunch break.

Tour Assembly Times: Please arrive at the Motorcycle Museum no later than 9:15 AM on Saturday and no earlier than 9:30 AM on Sunday morning. The museum gates open at 9:00 AM on Saturday and 9:30 AM on Sunday. Tour Departure Times: We would like all cars to be on their way for the Saturday tour not much later than 9:30 AM, while timings are more relaxed on Sunday and a 10:00 AM departure should ensure you complete the tour around lunchtime.

Convoys: Travelling in convoy is not to be recommended as it makes it extremely difficult for local traffic to get by. If you do find yourself as part of a Minor convoy please leave a large gap between you and the Minor ahead.

Saturday Rally Dinner Shorefield Park: Please park your car in the main car park by 7:00 PM and make your way to the Bistro in the main complex.

Sunday Lunch Time Eating Arrangements: There is not a planned Rally gathering for Sunday lunchtime and crews are expected to make their own arrangements. Many of us will be returning to the Motorcycle Museum and will take advantage of the opportunity to view the hundreds of fantastic exhibits gathered there. We have been granted a concessionary entry price of £6 per head while the museum also has a 40 seat tea room which serves a good range of hot and cold lunches.

Sunday Evening ‘Farewell’ Pub Meet: For those who are staying over for another night and travelling back home on Monday we are holding a farewell pub gathering at:

The Royal Oak, Christchurch Road, Downton, Hants. SO41 0LA

Tel. No. 01590 642297

This is where we will bid our farewells over a glass or two and look forward to the 2013 Morris Centenary PWMN Rally. Now I wonder where that will be?

Chris Lambert

June 2012

Petrol stations around the nerve centre of the 2012 PWMN rally

In addition to a petrol station about 1/3 of the way round the Saturday route there is also one approximately 15 miles into the Sunday amble.

I would advise filling-up prior to the Saturday start in case the fuel station on the way round isn’t open! If this isn’t possible then there is a garage on the way into , about 8 miles into the Saturday tour.

Hordle: See above, situated on the where Vaggs Lane (from Tiptoe/The Plugh Friday night meet up venue), Silver St (from Brockenhurst), Everton Rd (from Everton) and Ashley Lane (from Ashley/) meet. Closes 7:00 PM Saturdays and 6:00 PM Sundays

Highcliffe/Christchurch: On A35 where it joins the A337 there is a petrol station at the Sainsbury superstore.

Lymington: On A337, heading into town from New Milton at Pennington, Shell garage. Open late

Leaving the town towards Brockenhurst, the garage can be found just off the roundabout at Ampress Park Industrial Estate.

New Milton: Tesco store at Caird Avenue, off A337 at roundabout as you enter New Milton from .

Hinton: Turn left out of Sammy Millers museum, B3055, and then left onto A35 towards Christchurch there is a petrol station ½ a mile on right.

Sway: Murco garage near railway station in Station Road.

Brockenhurst: Esso garage on Sway Road

Burley/: If you take the road to Ringwood from Burley you will reach the A31 junction at . There are services here accessible without joining the A31

Also on the B3347 Christchurch Rd at Moortown as you leave Ringwood which can be reached from Burley across country via Crow PWMN RALLY 2012 Places of interest and information

The New Forest, its history. The New Forest is an English medieval deer hunting area created in 1079 by William the Conqueror. It is still largely in the possession of the Crown. It has recently become a National Park.

It is a nationally important environment of woodland pasture, heaths, bogs and the remains of 17th, 18th & 19th century coppices and timber plantations. It is grazed by the ponies, cattle and pigs of the local “Commoners” — one of the “Rights” extracted from the Crown by the locals centuries ago and guarded vigorously to this day.

The vestiges of the ancient Forest Law courts that controlled the local population and their animals (to ensure they did not interfere with the deer and its food) still have a role in the administration of the forest. “Forest” in a medieval sense was a legally defined area — subject to special laws — where the “beasts of the chase” (deer & wild pig) and their food were protected for the pleasure of the monarch. It was not necessarily a wooded area in the modern meaning — nearly half the New Forest is open heath, grassland and bog. The dominance of the preservation of the deer over the agricultural and fuel requirements of the sparse local population led to some concessions by the Crown. These concessions — which include the right to turn out stock into the open forest, the gathering of fuel-wood, the digging of clay — are now enshrined as the “Rights of Common”. These Rights attach to certain plots of domestic and agricultural land both within the boundaries of the forest and close by.

The ponies, cattle and pigs turned out into the open forest are owned by the “Commoners”, and are there by the Rights whose foundations extend back 900 years to William’s time. The Commoner has also shaped the forest. The open forest is dominated by the activities of his stock, and by the deer. These herbivores have been called the “architects of the forest”. The flora is defined by what they will, or will not eat. Above their heads is the hand of man — the Inclosures (fenced woodland) — either still enclosed to keep stock out to prevent damage to timber, or mature plantations “thrown open” for the Commoners’ animals to enter.

The laws enacted to preserve the deer for the royal pleasure were the Forest Laws. The penalties of Forest Law for interference with the king’s deer and its food became less severe over the centuries, but remnants of the legal structure that policed the area for the Crown are still present in the New Forest in the form of the Verderers’ Court. In a practical sense, the forest has survived because the soils are impoverished. There is evidence of cultivation within the area in the Bronze Age (field enclosures) but the clearing of woods in that era and the subsequent leaching of nutrients impoverished the poor soils. It was an infertile “waste” when William brought it under Forest Law (“afforested” it); it is still an infertile waste. It will support grazing herbivores and the cultivation of timber (which in the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries was for shipbuilding). It has supported little else, but this waste has served the requirements of the Crown.

Its preservation now is an — at times — uneasy balance of commercial forestry, its ecological status as a unique environment and the Rights of the Commoners (guarded by the Verderers). This balance of the frequently divergent interests of the Commoners and the Crown is not new. Historically, the Crown could only exploit the forest at the expense of the Commoners; on the other hand, the exercising of Rights by the Commoners reduced the ability of the Crown to expand timber production and maintain the deer. Remarkably, the New Forest has survived all the many challenges over 900 years. Peterson Tower, Sway Hampshire’s finest folly — the biggest, the most impressive, the oddest — is unquestionably Peterson’s tower at Sway. Andrew Thomas Turton Peterson was born in Yorkshire in 1813 and died in London in 1906. In the intervening 93 years he ran away to sea, became a lawyer, went to India, made a fortune, retired to Hampshire, became a Spiritualist, and built Peterson’s Tower.

Even if it isn’t quite the tallest folly in the country its 13 storeys still make it spectacular — and when it was built it was the tallest structure in the world. When one adds to that its undeniable ugliness, the stories about the ghost of Christopher Wren, half- remembered tales of the New Forest Shakers, mutterings about ‘Judge’ Peterson being buried at the top of the tower, and its total unsuitability for the New Forest or indeed anywhere and one begins to realise how compelling this wonderful folly is.

When Peterson, an irascible but soft-hearted radical, retired he found two things to occupy his interests. One was a very real concern for the plight of the unemployed in the locality. The other was a Mrs Girling, who arrived in the area with her religious troupe known as the New Forest Shakers. The first stirred his conscience; the second started his interest in spiritualism. By an extraordinary stroke of luck Mrs Girling was able to introduce him to Sir Christopher Wren (via a medium) and he was delighted to discover that Sir Christopher was as keen on concrete — a building material which Peterson had become interested in while in India — as he was. Together they planned the tower, and if the finished design does not recall Wren’s work as vividly as one might have hoped, one can only assume that the great architect’s powers had faltered a little after 200 years or so of death.

Finding a ready source of labour in Hampshire, Peterson set to work to build additions and improvements to his estate at Drum Duan, all to his (and Wren’s) own design and using concrete. Here he met opposition: as a radical he was concerned about improving the lot of his fellow man, as a rich man he could do something positive about it. So he paid his men far more than they could have earned elsewhere in the district, which aroused the wrath of all the other local employers. Peterson was at pains to stress that he never employed someone who was not genuinely jobless, but suspicions remained.

Work started in 1879, employing 40 men and no scaffolding. The tower rose gradually, not being completed until 1885. It was the first major building in Britain to be built from concrete. The rooms were never furnished, and although he apparently intended to install electric lights — the very latest thing — Trinity House forbade him, saying it would be a danger to shipping. They also forbade plans to install illuminated clock faces in the circular holes just below the second cornice.

Peterson’s life in India may have persuaded him that the Indian tower cremation followed by interment of the ashes was the cleanest means of disposing of the dead. His final wish saw him cremated at Woking and his ashes placed on the concrete table in the tower. Keep an eye open for the numerous walls and other buildings built when he was experimenting with concrete, including the smaller first tower.

Rhinefield House Although Rhinefield House has existed in its present form since the 1880s there have been dwellings on the site since the New Forest was first proclaimed by William the Conqueror. Keepers lived in a series of lodges, of which Rhinefield was the first to be built in 1709. The use of the forest as an exclusive hunting ground waned during the reign of Charles II and the office of “Keeper of the Walk” became a grace and favour appointment. By 1859 Rhinefield had become the abode of a Forest Nurseryman who created the Ornamental Drive and planted the many conifers in Rhinefield grounds.

By 1877 grace and favour appointments had lapsed and many of the Crown Lands were privatised. Rhinefield passed into the hands of the Walker family, which owned Eastwood Colliery, immortalised in the novels of D.H. Lawrence. In 1885 the only daughter of the family became engaged to a Lieutenant Munro RN, and her father’s engagement present was £250,000 with which to build a family home at Rhinefield. After their marriage in 1887 the couple adopted the name Walker-Munro and supervised the construction of an impressive country seat comprising the Great House, a hunting lodge, stables, gardener’s bothy and a gate lodge. There was even enough change left over to build a modest “beach hut”, which is best known today as the White House at .

Rhinefield remained in the possession of the Walker-Munro family until after the death of their son in 1950, when crippling death duties forced his widow to dispose of it. There followed a period of uncertainty for Rhinefield, during which several schemes for conversion to flats or a hotel foundered for one reason or another. The one relatively successful venture was a private school, which occupied the house for 10 years.

In 1972 Oliver Cutts, a coal merchant who made considerable progress in refurbishing the house and grounds, but whose plans did not win approval of the local planning authority, bought the freehold and opened the house to the public. In 1982 ownership passed to the Nicholas Hotels, whose plans to develop Rhinefield into a hotel with conference facilities and several luxury apartments to be leased on a timeshare basis was successful. This was followed in 1989 by transfer of ownership to Richard Branson (Virgin Hotels), when an upgrading programme was begun.

The oldest part of the house appears to be the fire-back in the central Grand Hall, which bears the date 1653. The previous lodge was demolished to make way for the present house, although the materials were carefully preserved and used in the construction.

Knightwood Oak A short walk from Knightwood Oak car park leads to the largest and perhaps the most famous oak tree in the New Forest. The Knightwood Oak is the largest oak in the New Forest, at 7.4m girth, and surely one of the oldest, at around 600 years. Also known as the Queen of the Forest, it is still going strong today and is a spectacular example of the ancient art of pollarding, the traditional way of harvesting wood without killing the tree. It was probably first pollarded when about 200-years-old and last pollarded about 150 years ago. The gravel path from the car park winds past some young memorial oaks which are saplings from the old tree.

This area is known as The Knightwood Enclosure and is a forestry plantation. This tree was here long before the plantation, however. The old oak has been fenced in to protect its roots from our trampling feet. This is what is called a “cleft oak” fence and as you approach the ancient tree you will see information boards, not only on the Knightwood Oak, but also on why this type of fencing is used.

Portuguese Fireplace The Portuguese Fireplace can be found by the roadside close to Millyford Bridge, beside a minor road leading towards the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. A plaque explains its presence:

“This is the site of a hutted camp occupied by a Portuguese army unit during the First World War. This unit assisted the depleted local labour force in producing timber for the war effort. The Forestry Commission have retained this fireplace from the cookhouse as a memorial to the men who lived and worked here and acknowledge the financial assistance of the Portuguese Government in its renovation.”

At the height of the camp’s usage there were around 100 Portuguese and 200 Canadian and associated workers on site. The Canadians were better equipped for the environment than the Portuguese, who at one point went on strike because they were not even given oilskins. Special arrangements had to be made so that the Portuguese got abundant food of a type they would eat. Their diet consisted largely of fish, bread, potatoes, beans, rice and olive oil as well as green vegetables and onions — cooked using this fireplace.

Eventually it was decided the Portuguese were better used for other work than timber as the workers found best suited were Finnish and prisoners of war. Nearby, close to the Millyford Bridge car park, can be found a large rectangular concrete block and what appear to be the remains of foundations, maybe dating back to the same period.

Canadian Memorial During World War Two, Canada Cross in the New Forest was regularly used as a gathering area for all the Canadian soldiers who were stationed here. It was a special place as church services were held for all denominations and today the Canada Cross Memorial is still regularly visited, and flowers laid, in memory of the Canadians who served in this area.

Close by is Stoney Cross airfield site. It is best viewed from the air, but you can still see the water tower and the remains of one of the runway lights as it runs adjacent to the busy A31. Five hundred acres of New Forest heathland and forest were used for this secret airfield, and aircraft were to be stored under camouflaged hides, made from canvas. All outer signs of an airfield were to be hidden.

It was later decided to use it as an advanced base for bombers and fighters and this meant the actual area was increased to roughly 898 acres. Mustangs and Liberators were two types of aircraft used from Stoney Cross.

Apparently the airfield was set up with explosives underneath the runways in case of enemy landings. Unlike today’s explosives, which are more stable when being laid or moved, these needed to be replaced every few months.

St Margaret of Antioch church, East Wellow St Margaret’s has been a place of worship and pilgrimage for nearly 800 years. A Grade 1 listed building with highly distinctive decoration, it is also the burial place of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, and home to a lively modern congregation which actively participates in its community of Wellow, in rural Hampshire.

The present flint-faced stone building was consecrated in 1215, the year of the signing of Magna Carta, but there are earlier foundations beneath. The parish existed in King Alfred’s day, and was presented by him to his daughter Ethelfreda. From 1251 until the Dissolution of the monasteries, the church was controlled by the monks of Netley Abbey, to the East of Southampton. Its dedication to St Margaret of Antioch, a patron favoured by Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, is a feature of its time of consecration.

The Church is rich in architectural interest. It consists of chancel, nave (both C13th), side aisle (C15th), with a wooden belfry of the dovecote type. The picturesque south porch is assigned to the C16th. The attractive interior has five massive wooden pillars and a heavily timbered roof.

A most interesting feature is the large proportion of the original wall paintings that still survive. These were whitewashed over at the Reformation, but rediscovered in the 1890s. The walls are painted in squares, with a conventional design of lilies, arranged horizontally in the nave and diagonally in the chancel, with consecration crosses in red, enclosed in circles. On the north wall is the figure of St Christopher carrying the infant Christ over a river and a woman — presumably St Margaret (to the right), sitting on a hillock, spinning. A knight is arriving to her rescue, holding two keys. The martyrdom of St Thomas of Canterbury is portrayed on the chancel south wall, a fresco dating from 1250. The priest’s doorway dates from the C14th. There is a leper or low side window in the chancel. The chancel is panelled with Jacobean oak taken from the old pews. The vicar’s desk is made from fragments of an ancient chancel screen.

Mottisfont Abbey Mottisfont Abbey is set in glorious grounds alongside the fast-flowing , which is one of the finest chalk streams in the world. There are many layers of history, including the Gothic remains of the original 13th century Augustinian priory. Pilgrims en route to came to worship Mottisfont’s relic, said to be a finger of St John the Baptist, but after being struck by the Black Death in the 14th century, the abbey’s prosperity declined. In the mid-20th century the final private owner, patron of the arts Maud Russell, used the Abbey as a base for her racy life. The walled gardens house the national collection of old-fashioned roses. Mottisfont’s story is told through its past inhabitants, from the Augustinian Canons of 1201, who kept their stores in the great cellarium, to sparkling society hostess Russell, whose elegant drawing room was painted by Rex Whistler in the trompe l’oeil style.

Cob walls in Hampshire A cob is a structure or wall built usually from local materials such as chalk, clay or mud, some mixed with straw. In most cases in Hampshire chalk was used. Many farm buildings and dwellings were built in this method, farm labourers on mass carrying out this work in between farm duties. Some date back to the 14th and 15th centuries with walls between one and two feet thick.

Even though a cob can stand up to severe weather on its own, most have a lime mortar render coated in lime wash. Lime is used so the cob can still move and breathe. Cob structures and walls can be found worldwide, but in mainly in Devon, Hampshire and Wiltshire. A cob is built from shuttered compacted natural materials, built up in layers, and — very importantly — it is roofed, not just in the case of dwellings but on garden walls too. This is commonly know as its hat or cap.

Cobs are built most commonly in areas where the raw materials are found in abundance. The thermal values are very high — the CO2 ratings are much better than modern building, making it much more environmentally friendly. A well-built thatched chalk cob is cool in the summer and warm in the winter due to the thermal values of the materials used and because it is a breathing structure.

Danebury Hill Fort Danebury is one of the most extensively studied hill forts in Europe. It dates from the Iron Age (700BC-AD43), which was the period between the end of the Bronze Age and the start of the Roman period. You can discover more and see some of the finds at the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover. In the hill fort you can see the ring of ramparts and the once-hidden gateway. The earthworks around the entrance will give you a feel for the success of the Danebury defences. The ground slopes to a high spot in the centre of the ring which was a focal point for religious gatherings and important meetings. Some subtle dips in the ground are where grain stores used to be. Large beech trees around the earthworks make the site very prominent in the landscape. Other hilltop features that you can see from here may also have been fortified sites of ancient settlement.

Danebury may have been used during the Dark Ages (5th/6th centuries) as there is evidence that the outer defensive earthworks were rebuilt. The town of Stockbridge developed during the medieval period and at this time Danebury was used only by shepherds and their flocks. During the 16th century Henry VII granted a charter allowing a fair to be held on St Margaret’s Day (20th July) and this may have taken place at Danebury. Today Danebury is still visited by local people, some of whom may be related to the original Iron Age inhabitants, 70 generations ago.

Enjoy your picnic!

Nether Wallop Airfield

“It was a question of just piling in, trying to pick out a target and trying to shoot it, then you found that someone was shooting at you.” Pilot Peter Hairs, now 96, recalls flying from Middle Wallop, near Andover, during the Battle of Britain. In the summer of 1940, the RAF was heavily outnumbered by the Luftwaffe, who having largely conquered Europe, had its sights set on Britain. Fighter patrols were scrambled from airfields to drive off the attacks. During the Battle of Britain, Middle Wallop was home to several squadrons, including 609, flying the Spitfire.

The airforce put up a fierce fight against the Germans — 609 Squadron was the first to down 100 enemy aircraft. The squadron was an auxiliary unit based at the Hampshire airfield for part of that summer. Its members were all volunteers from brewing, milling or farming families in Yorkshire. “They were a very successful unit with an incredible esprit de corps. In August they really came into their own,” said military expert Paul Beaver.

On August 13, 609 Squadron intercepted a raid over Portland. There was a frenzied four minutes of fighting. “Thirteen Spitfires shot down at least 13 enemy aircraft and claimed some more ‘probables’ — both bombers and fighters,” he said. That convinced Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering that he had to hit the airfields. The next day Middle Wallop was bombed. A single aircraft dropped five bombs on the airfield, damaging hangars four and five. Three airmen died trying to close the doors to protect the aircraft within. The vast hangar doors were blown off their runners and crushed the men to death.

Peter Hairs was a 25-year-old auxiliary pilot at Middle Wallop, who flew both Hurricanes and later Spitfires. His job was to stop the enemy coming across the English Channel. “I don’t think I felt that we were actually going to lose a war. I knew that it was a bit dicey, but I couldn’t imagine that the Germans would be able to invade the country,” he said.

Once up in the skies, the airmen faced a shower of bombs and bullets from the Luftwaffe. “We had a limited amount of ammunition, about a 20 second burst, so you did short bursts. There was a lot of ammunition flying around. In a way they had the advantage in arranging when they were going to attack. They had their bombers coming in and their fighters up above ready to pounce,” he remembered. Today the airfield is virtually unchanged and is home to the School of Army Aviation. St Andrews, Nether Wallop Nether Wallop’s parish church, dedicated to St Andrew, is the setting for the ONLY Anglo Saxon wall painting to survive in situ — the precious legacy of artists of the Winchester School who worked here around 1020.

In the late Norman period the painting was cut through as the choir arch was raised. However, an altar frontal given in 1998 seeks to reproduce, through contemporary embroidery techniques, the probable design of the Saxon wall painting.

The enlargement of the Saxon arch was one aspect of a gradual and almost continuous process of alterations, adaptations and restorations, each of which has contributed to the fabric of the church today. Each century’s contribution, from the 10th to the 19th, is there for us to enjoy, as well as art work from both the very first and very last years of the second millennium.

Station House tea rooms If it wasn’t for the railway, we wouldn’t be here at all . . . June 1st, 1847 saw the opening of the station at Holmsley. It was considered an important stopping place on the new Southampton to Dorchester railway, a line that was promoted by local solicitor Charles Castleman and whose name affectionately graced the line, named Castleman’s Corkscrew, due to its winding route. The line was primarily built to serve the market towns of Ringwood and Wimborne. in the mid 1800s was just a small village, so building a station there would have been fruitless. Christchurch, on the other hand, with its hustle and bustle, due in part to its port, was another matter and warranted a railway station. As a result, the station was built at the closest point to Christchurch, at Holmsley, and bore the name ‘Christchurch Road’.

Prince Edward, the eldest son of Queen Victoria, and Lillie Langtry were frequently met at Holmsley by an express carriage whereby they would be whisked away to Edward’s Bournemouth residence, built for his mistress. In time and with the growth of Bournemouth, a new 10-mile stretch was opened in 1888, encompassing Sway, New Milton and Hinton Admiral, before joining the existing line from Christchurch to Bournemouth. Quieter times spark the imagination though, and in the 1899 novel ‘The Wrong Box’ Holmsley was cast as the fictional station ‘Browndean’ by author and one-time resident of Bournemouth, Robert Louis Stevenson. Also thought to use the station was Kaiser Wilheim of Germany and his cabinet, for their 1907 visit to Highcliffe Castle to meet with Major Stuart Wortley.

The station’s finest hour came during WWII, when its location provided an invaluable drop-off point of equipment and supplies for the newly created aerodrome at Holmsley South. This also created huge amounts of freight and passenger traffic. The station also played host to many government officials during this period, including General Eisenhower in May 1944 for the preparations for the D-Day landings.

The 1950s bought a return to the relative calm that had graced the station previously. Soldiers and pilots were replaced by ramblers and cyclists, who were increasingly using Holmsley as a convenient stop-off to explore the forest. Sadly, 1963 spelled the beginning of the end with the Beeching Report, detailing plans to cut more than 2,200 network stations, Holmsley among them. It finally closed on May 4th, 1964.

PWMN New Forest Rally

Route instructions for Saturday 16th June.

THE DIRECTIONS: There are a lot of small turnings and tracks in and around the forest and moors, so with regard to the directions, once directed to turn left or right or straight over, if the next direction is, say, a T-junction or crossroad, it will be the first T-junction or crossroad you come to (and in the case of T- junctions will be where you have to give way), which may well be some distance away after lots of other side turnings. The cumulative mileage will help those of you lucky enough to have a working milometer and we have also included mileage between each instruction (in brackets), these give the mileage from the previous instruction. The rest of you, just ignore any and all other turnings, have faith, and stay on the stated road until you trip over the next direction! If it is a left or right turn that is not at a T-junction or crossroad, we have endeavoured to make it clear where you turn…see you in a few days if it’s not as clear as we hoped! Oh, OK then, seeing as you twisted our arms, if you get lost, call Toby on 07790 533619 and we’ll do our best to get you back on track. Be aware that there are very few crossing points over the busy A35 and even busier A31 – most that are shown on maps no longer allow you to go straight across but instead filter you onto the main road, sometimes for tens of miles. Our routes use the only crossings where you don’t have to do that, which is why it sometimes looks like we’re not taking the most direct route possible.

THE TIMINGS: Based on us driving the route in our 1933 SV saloon, we recommend leaving Sammy Miller Museum at 9.30am with the aim of reaching the lunch stop by 1.00pm. At the picnic lunch stop, there are toilets but no café, although there may well be a mobile tea/coffee van. However we (Linda and Toby) will have flasks of hot water, teabags, coffee, milk and sugar with us so anyone who wants a hot drink can have one. The shortage of road options across the moors and forest means that the afternoon run doesn’t leave time for a lot of sight seeing. We reckon to be sure of enjoying a leisurely cream tea (the Station Inn closes at 5.00pm), you need to set out on the afternoon leg of the run by 2.00pm. There is no time element to the driving but I have included times at the stopping points. These let you know the latest you should leave that stop in order to reach the lunch stop for 1pm. It doesn’t matter if you get ahead of yourself as you will have longer to explore Danebury Hill Fort or do more stops for photos in the afternoon. Afternoon timings are mentioned in the lunch stop section and although there is only one detailed stop you may want to stop at the village of Burley.

THE ANIMALS: You will see lots of free-roaming ponies, horses, donkeys, cattle (some with surprisingly fierce-looking horns) and possibly sheep, pigs and deer, any or all of which might be lying in the road or decide to step out in front of your car as if they own the place. Well, under local law they do, so please keep an eye out for them and give those you do spot a wide berth. Foals, in particular, have little road sense. In the unlikely event of an accident involving an animal, as well as calling any services needed by cars or humans, please call the police on 0845 045 4545 and inform them that an animal has been hit and ask them to let the verderers know. The verderers’ office number is 02380 282052 but will almost certainly be shut on a Saturday! Even if the animal has run off, please let the police/verderer know what kind of animal was hit, at what location, so they can go in search of it and put it out of its suffering if necessary. Please also contact the police/ verderers if you see another motorist hit an animal and fail to stop.

THE QUESTIONS: Purely as a bit of optional fun, we have posed one question at each possible stop point on the route. The answer for each can be found at that site of interest. No prizes, no pressure – just have a go if you fancy it. Answers will be given out on Saturday evening.

THE START POINT: Sammy Miller Museum, Bashley Cross Road, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5SZ. Tel: 01425 620 777 LEAVE THE CAR PARK BY 9.30AM.

Sammy Miller Museum Question 1: Who is cream? Sammy Miller Museum to Peterson Towers:

RIGHT out of car park. 0m

Continue to ROUNDABOUT. STRAIGHT OVER onto B3055 Sway Road, signed Sway, Brockenhurst.

Past The Plough Inn on left, past brick church on right, over railway.

Past Sway 30mph signs, round bends, turn RIGHT at red letter box 2.7m into LINNIES LANE, signed Little Arnewood Farm. (2.7m)

NB: Shortly after turn, note view of Peterson Towers to right.

Continue to T-JUNCTION. RIGHT into Barrows Lane. (0.4m) 3.1m

Pull up beside the next red letter box to view PETERSON TOWER, 3.4m which is a few yards further along on your left. This is now private, so cannot be climbed. SEE INFORMATION BOOKLET. (0.3m) Leave by 9.50am

Q2: How tall is the main Peterson Tower?

Peterson Towers to Knightwood Oak

TURN AROUND, head back along Barrows Lane, carrying on past Linnies Lane that you previously came out from, taking note of the concrete farm buildings on your right.

At CROSSROAD, STRAIGHT OVER (unsigned but has 14’ 3” 3.9m width restriction road sign). (0.5m)

At T-JUNCTION, RIGHT into Mead End Road. (0.7m) 4.6m

Follow road as it swings sharp right by a red post box, signed SWAY. 5.6m (still Mead End Road). Over stream, past Sway village name sign and on to T-JUNCTION. LEFT into Brighton Road. Continue out of village, over cattlegrid, onto moors. (1.0m)

At T-JUNCTION, RIGHT, signed Brockenhurst and Battramsley. 6.3m Note: To your right, the hills on the horizon are the Isle of Wight. There will be a better view on the Sunday coast drive. (0.7m) OFFSET CROSSROAD, LEFT, signed Brockenhurst B3055. (0.9m) 7.2m

Continue under two railway bridges and take next LEFT, signed 8.0m Brockenhurst B3055. (0.8m)

Go over traffic light-controlled bridge and continue on to OFFSET 9.2m CROSSROAD. Turn LEFT along High Street. (1.2m)

AT T-JUNCTION immediately after/at ford, turn RIGHT. Follow 9.4m signs to Rhinefield, past Forest Park hotel on left, out onto moors and over Puttles Bridge. (approx. 2 miles)

Shortly after Puttles Bridge (half mile), there is a clearing in the hedges on the left, where you have the best (and only) good view of RHINEFIELD HOUSE and its superb chimneys. SEE INFO BOOKLET. This is also the start of Rhinefield Ornamental Drive.

Continue on, round right-hand bend (entrance to Rhinefield House on left), over weak bridge, past Blackwater (there’s nice walking here plus a free arboretum if anyone wants to visit another day). TOILETS IN BLACKWATER CAR PARK.

At DANGEROUS CROSSROAD, STRAIGHT OVER the busy, 13.7m very fast A35 into the unsigned Boldrewood Ornamental Drive. (4.3m)

Shortly afterwards turn LEFT into Knightwood Oak car park and 13.9m make the short walk to visit the oldest oak in the New Forest. (0.2m) SEE INFORMATION BOOKLET. Leave by 10.25am

Q3: What is the circumference of the tree’s trunk?

Knightwood Oak to Canadian Memorial

LEFT out of Knightwood Oak car park, back onto the ornamental drive, over cattlegrid, past Boldrewood car park. TOILETS.

TIME IS TIGHT on the morning run, but if you wish to visit the Portuguese Fireplace (SEE INFORMATION BOOKLET), then at the T-JUNCTION, turn RIGHT. The fireplace is 2 miles along this road on the right. Then retrace steps to T-junction.

If not visiting fireplace, at T-JUNCTION, turn LEFT (2.5m) 16.4m Shortly after junction, on RIGHT, is the CANADIAN MEMORIAL 16.7m (0.3m). SEE INFORMATION BOOKLET. Leave by 10.50am

Q4: What date was a cross erected?

Canadian Memorial to St Margaret’s Church

Continue on along same road, under bridge, across moors. Note the remnants of WWII runways.

Turn RIGHT, signed Stoney Cross – just for Chris, part of this road is 18.4m an old wartime runway and you can see at some points where it was originally wider. Enjoy! (1.7m)

T-JUNCTION LEFT, signed /. (2.5m) 20.9m

Keep right where the road forks (ie stay on the same road), signed 22.0m Bramshaw/Brook. (1.1m)

CROSSROAD, STRAIGHT ACROSS, signed Bramshaw & 22.6m Bramble Hill (0.6m)

At Stocks Cross CROSSROAD, go STRAIGHT ACROSS, signed 23.8m Wellow/. Note: This is the site of a former stocks and gallows. The gallows were still in use in 1831. Keep an eye out for pigs and donkeys in this area. (1.2m)

Through FURZLEY, continuing towards Wellow.

T-JUNCTION LEFT onto A36 into Wellow. (2.9m) 26.7m NB: Burmah petrol station on left if needed.

At Canada Corner ROUNDABOUT, turn RIGHT into Lower 27.6m Common Road. (0.9m)

To end of road, T-JUNCTION RIGHT, signed Romsey (war 28.2m memorial opposite). (0.6m)

To T-JUNCTION, LEFT into Whinwhistle Road, signed Romsey. 29.1m (0.9m)

FIRST LEFT signed St Margaret’s Church. (0.5m) 29.6m

LEFT to ST MARGARET’S CHURCH, where Florence 30.3m Nightingale is buried. (0.7m) SEE INFORMATION BOOKLET. Leave by 11.50am

Q5: What did Florence Nightingale want on her memorial?

St Margaret’s Church to Danebury Hill Fort

Retrace steps (T-JUNCTION RIGHT, then LEFT) back onto road to 31.2m Romsey. (0.9m)

Continue on, round very sharp left-hand bend, past Wellow Vineyard 32.7m to CROSSROAD. STRAIGHT OVER into Danes Road, signed Awbridge/Kimbridge. (1.5m)

Into AWBRIDGE. Continue on to STAGGERED CROSSROAD. 34.0m Turn LEFT then IMMEDIATELY RIGHT into Saunders Lane, signed Dunbridge/Kimbridge. (1.3m)

T-JUNCTION, LEFT onto B3084 Barley Hill, signed Broughton/ 34.7m Mottisfont/Dunbridge. (0.7m)

Into DUNBRIDGE, bear right over level crossing, signed Broughton/ Mottisfont.

Over river into Mottisfont. Up shallow hill to CROSSROAD 36.0m (although road sign shows just a right turn it has a track to the left as well, signed village hall) and turn RIGHT into Bengers Lane, signed Mottisfont village centre (plus brown sign to Mottisfont House & Gardens). (1.3m)

T-JUNCTION (with Mottisfont House in front of you), turn LEFT 36.5m into Oakley Road, signed Houghton/Stockbridge. The road now winds through the Test Valley (Test river to your right). (0.5m)

You are now entering the Test Valley where the river Test meanders its way from Inkpen to Southampton and enters the Solent, thought to be one of the most picturesque rivers in England. Keep an eye out to your right for views of the river. Rich in trout fisheries, much of the land the river passes through is in private ownership. The Test Valley Way follows the closed railway line that was known as the “Spratt and Winkle” line due to its coastal destination and seafood cargoes!

Into HOUGHTON. As you enter village turn LEFT, signed 39.9m

Stockbridge. (3.4m)

Past Boot Inn. As you leave village, to your right as the houses run out, you will see a typical view of the river and trout fishing. The road then bends left, look out for a delightful flint garden doorway, immediately on your right (leading into Houghton Lodge Gardens), before road then bends right.

Go past Houghton Lodge Gardens, into outskirts of Longstock. At 42.4m CROSSROAD, STRAIGHT ACROSS. (2.5m)

NOTE: NON-PICNICERS TURN RIGHT INSTEAD OF GOING STRAIGHT ACROSS AND DRIVE INTO STOCKBRIDGE FOR LUNCH AT A PUB, CAFÉ OR RESTAURANT. After lunch you can pick up the route at this point. You need to leave Stockbridge by 1.55pm or, if you want to do the optional drive into Longstock village, by 1.45pm.

Immediately after the crossroad, note the traditional HAMPSHIRE COB WALLS on the right. You will see/pass a lot of these en route, some made of mud and straw (cob) and some in flint. To prevent weathering they were topped with thatch or tiles.

Watch for a LEFT TURN (2nd left) into BOTTOM ROAD. (1.0m) 43.4m

————————————————————————————-

Optional detour into picture postcard village of Longstock (This is a really pretty village, but adds 10 minutes to an already long tour. However, if you’ve time, it’s well worth a look…)

Instead of turning left into Bottom Road, continue along the road into Longstock, ooh and aah, turn around when you run out of houses and retrace steps to turn RIGHT into BOTTOM ROAD.

————————————————————————————- After turning into Bottom Road, continue up hill to T-JUNCTION, 44.2m turn RIGHT. You have left the river valley and are entering the chalk downs towards the edge of Wiltshire. (0.8m)

Turn LEFT into Danebury Hill Fort for LUNCH. (1.0m) 45.2m

There is a car park immediately on the left with a picnic field next to it although there is an additional car park further up the track, where the toilets are and better picnicking/views. If top car park is full you can park on grass alongside the road up the hill to car park. It is free to walk around and inside the hill fort, if you wish to, from where there are some good views of the surrounding area including the radio telescope dish at nearby Chilbolton. Leave by 2.00pm

Q6: How long ago was the hill fort built and when was it abandoned?

————————————————————————————-

If you get ahead of yourself time wise during the afternoon you can stop in quaint Burley. The village is only 5 minutes from the cream tea stop but please note that the tea room closes at 5pm.

Danebury Hillfort to St Andrew’s church

LEFT out of hillfort. 0.0m

Past large SB Joinery building on left, and s-bend road sign, then take 1.2m FIRST LEFT, into unsigned side road. Keep a look out for hares in the fields. (1.2m)

Continue (with Nether Wallop airfield on right) to T-JUNCTION. 3.2m RIGHT into Farley Street. You are now entering the Wallop Brook Valley (2.0m)

After a relatively short distance, as approach bend, turn LEFT into 3.7m BENT STREET. (0.5m)

To end T-JUNCTION, LEFT. (0.4m) 4.1m Down dip just before bottom, FIRST LEFT into Hosketts Lane (if 4.5m you reach crossroad you’ve gone too far). (0.4m)

At 30mph sign bear LEFT into Five Bells Lane, don’t be misled by 4.7m Ducks Lane sign in front of you. (0.2m)

Through FORD, immediately bear RIGHT, still Five Bells Lane. 5.0m (0.3m)

Just before Five Bells pub on right turn LEFT onto High Street. 5.1m Follow road past Church Hill. (0.2m)

RIGHT into Church Road to visit St Andrew’s Saxon Church (0.1m) 5.3m

Arrive at St Andrews church. (0.1m) Leave by 2.30pm 5.4m

Q7: Which protector looks down on you as you walk through the entrance door?

St Andrew’s church to Station House tearooms

Retrace your steps along Church Street but turn RIGHT, over river bridge to T-JUNCTION. TURN RIGHT. (0.1m) 5.5m

Continue on this road to CROSSROAD at the A30 (looking out for big house and ornamental lake on right). STRAIGHT OVER A30, 6.8m signed Broughton. (1.3m)

Into BROUGHTON (lots of cob walls), over river to T-JUNCTION. Turn RIGHT, opposite the Greyhound pub, signed Tytherley/Romsey. 8.2m (1.4m)

T-JUNCTION/TRIANGLE turn LEFT onto B3084, signed Romsey/ Dunbridge/Mottisfont/Tytherley. (0.2m) 8.4m

Continue out of village and take FIRST RIGHT as you go up hill, unsigned except for a restricted access 6’ 6” sign. (0.3m) 8.7m

To T-JUNCTION, RIGHT (NB: keep an eye out for deer in the fields and woods around here). (0.6m) 9.3m Into EAST TYTHERLEY. At T-JUNCTION turn LEFT into East Tytherley Road, signed Lockerley/Romsey. (1.4m) 10.7m

Continue past The Star Inn on left into LOCKERLEY. Past St John’s church on left, under railway bridge, past Butt’s Green, past The King’s Arms on left, then turn RIGHT into Cooks Lane and IMMEDIATELY LEFT into Mount Lane. (2.4m) 13.1m

To end T-JUNCTION, RIGHT into unsigned road. (1.6m) 14.7m

CROSSROAD STRAIGHT ACROSS into Dandys Ford Lane. 15.9m (1.2m)

Over small bridge, RIGHT into Wellow Drove. (0.8m) 16.7m

To T-JUNCTION, LEFT into unsigned road (Scallows Lane). (0.5m) 17.2m

After a series of farms and bends, turn first RIGHT into Spouts Lane. 17.9m (0.7m)

FIRST LEFT (Willows Lodge is opposite the turn) into unsigned road 18.1m (Pound Lane). (0.2m)

TRIANGLE T-JUNCTION LEFT into Sherfield English Lane. 18.5m (0.4m)

Very soon FIRST RIGHT into Church Lane, signed Plaitford Church. 18.6m (0.1m)

Continue past church (with wooden spire) and thatched granary, through FORD. Immediately after passing through the ford, look up to your left to see a canal boat left high and dry!

T-JUNCTION LEFT onto main A36 then IMMEDIATELY 19.6m RIGHT, signed Nomansland. (1.0m)

Continue to CROSSOAD, STRAIGHT OVER into Forest Road. 21.0m (1.4m)

Continue over cattlegrid, through Nomansland, past Lamb Inn on right (NB: you might see some pigs around here), up hill and then across moors, to CROSSROAD. Turn RIGHT onto B3078, signed 22.9m

Fordingbridge/Downton. (1.9m)

Keep left to where the road forks. (1.4m) From this 24.3m road you get spectacular views of forest and moors. In the distance you can see and to the left the headland where the land rises up to meet the sea is part of the “Jurassic Coast”, which runs from to Weymouth.

Continue across the moors all the way to GODSHILL, passing The Fighting Cocks pub on right.

Go past Sandy Balls (Oh how we laughed) then almost immediately, as you go around a right-hand bend, there are two turns together on the 28.8m left. Take the SECOND LEFT, signed . (4.5m)

Down hill to enter HYDE and continue to T-JUNCTION. Turn LEFT, signed Frogham/Hyde Church/. (0.7m) 29.5m

You are now entering our third river valley, this time home to the River Avon with a mass of brooks and streams flowing into it as it heads for Christchurch and the sea. The area has been widely excavated for sand and gravel between Fordingbridge and Ringwood.

Continue on over cattlegrid, then RIGHT into Hyde Lane, signed 29.8m North Gorley. (0.3m)

Past nice old barn on right, continue on to, TRIANGLE T-JUNCTION, RIGHT to North Gorley then ALMOST 30.3m IMMEDIATELY LEFT, before cattlegrid, into Ringwood Road, signed North Gorley. (0.5m)

Continue past The Royal Oak on right to triangle, follow road round to left, signed Ringwood. (0.6m) 30.9m

Continue on, through raised FORD (NB: keep an eye out for donkeys round here), past Avon steam train rides on left, on and on, past Moyles Court School, through another raised FORD, bear RIGHT, signed Rockford/. (2.2m) 33.1m Continue on past The Alice Lisle pub on right (location for previous PWMN spring and autumn pub meets) and on past lakes on right, then 34.1m turn RIGHT, over raised FORD, signed Ringwood. (1.0m)

Continue on into built-up area (Gorley Road), to mini-roundabout with a pink house opposite. Turn LEFT. (0.7m) 34.8m

Continue over bridge (over A31 ) to mini- roundabout. Turn RIGHT. (0.3m) 35.1m

As you then go down slip road towards dual carriageway turn LEFT into Eastfield Lane. (0.1m) 35.2m DON’T PANIC! YOU ARE NOT GOING ONTO THE DUAL CARRIAGEWAY! TURN LEFT BEFORE REACHING DUAL CARRIAGEWAY!!!!!!!

At Elm Tree pub turn RIGHT into Crow Lane, signed Burley/ . (0.5m) 35.7m

Continue on past Raptor & Reptile Centre on right to T-JUNCTION. Turn LEFT, signed Crow Hill/Burley/Brockenhurst. (0.6m) 36.3m

Continue on over disused railway, up hill and out into moorland, then on until bear right to T-JUNCTION. Turn RIGHT to Burley.(2.4m) 38.7m

Continue on into BURLEY. You are only 5 minutes away from the finish so if time allows you can park and look round the village centre. The cream tea stop is open until 5pm. Burley has a long connection with witches and, during the late 1950s, Sybil Leek, a self- styled white witch, lived here. She used to walk around Burley with her pet jackdaw on her shoulder. Some of the gift shops in Burley now sell some truly spell-bindingly naff witch-related gifts and ornaments!

Follow road round to left (past war memorial on right), then right up 40.1m hill (look out for milestone on left, immediately after a turning on your left, inscribed “rest and be thankful”), signed Brockenhurst/ Holmsley. (1.4m)

Back out onto moors, continue past road on left signed to White Buck Inn, continue across moors, over cattlegrid, then as you approach STATION HOUSE (see information for history) tearooms/pub, turn RIGHT, then LEFT into car park for your well-deserved CREAM 42.2m TEA (2.0m). Note the old platform on your right immediately after the right turn. The old railway line now forms a series of cycleways and footpaths from Sway to Ringwood and beyond.

We hope you have enjoyed the run – and that you enjoy your cream tea. Tomorrow’s short optional run will be a coastal trip from Sammy Miller Museum to Lymington.

Linda & Toby Sears.

PWMN 2012 New Forest Rally Sunday Coastal Amble

Being a coastal route and a popular destination, there are plenty of tea, cake, ice cream or lunch stop opportunities, but please note that most coastal areas have pay and display parking combined with summertime restrictions on nearby roads, including in Lymington. Other than in Lymington, the cliff tops do have some side roads with free parking, if you are willing to walk back to the coast.

START POINT: Sammy Miller Museum, Bashley Cross Road, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5SZ. Tel: 01425 620 777

RIGHT out of museum car park, then IMMEDIATELY RIGHT into Stern Lane, signed Industrial Estates.

To T-junction at end, turn RIGHT. 1.1m

Continue for 0.4 miles, then immediately after a blue-and-white ‘traffic calmed area’ sign turn LEFT into unsigned Chewton Farm Road. 0.4m

To T-junction at end, turn LEFT into Ringwood Road. Signed Bournemouth, Christchurch, Lymington. 0.5m

To roundabout, take SECOND EXIT onto A337, signed Bournemouth. 0.1m

Enter Highcliffe. Immediately after town sign, turn LEFT into Mill Lane. 0.1m

SECOND RIGHT into Montagu Road, signed ‘To the sea’. 0.1m To crossroads, turn LEFT into Waterford Road. 0.3m Note view of Isle of Wight.

Follow road around bend into Wharncliffe Road and keep going to T-junction at end, where you turn LEFT into Lymington Road. 0.7m BEWARE SPEED CAMERA!

Shortly afterwards, where there is a brown sign to Highcliffe Castle, turn LEFT into Rothesay Drive. 0.3m

Go straight across minor road INTO HIGHCLIFFE CASTLE grounds and car park (£1.30 for 1 hour, £2.30 for 2 hours). You can visit the castle if you wish (small charge), or walk down to the shingle beach (free, dogs allowed) or walk along the cliff top through Steamer Point Nature Reserve (free).

The then Prince of Wales, Edward, was photographed at the Castle in 1900 after a motor outing to the New Forest (left). He was driven by John Scott Montagu, later the 2nd Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, in his 1899 12hp Daimler.

For a country house which has stood for little more than 170 years, Highcliffe Castle can boast an impressive number of royal visitors. As well as British royalty, they have come from right across Europe – France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Sweden and Norway. The list includes six kings or future kings, and ten queens or future queens. Ten princes and 12 princesses have also been guests. The most publicised royal visit was when Kaiser William II, the German Emperor, spent a three- week break at the Castle in 1907, living the life of an English country gentleman. Just seven years after being cheered wherever he went, World War I turned him into the most hated figure in Britain.

Highcliffe Castle has been described as arguably the most important surviving house of the Romantic and Picturesque style of architecture, which flourished at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Its significance is recognised nationally by its Grade 1 status on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural and Historical Interest. There is an international importance, too. For a large amount of medieval French masonry, shipped across the Channel, was used in its construction. It is this Norman and Renaissance carved stone, along with the Castle’s Gothic revival features and ancient stained glass, that make it appear older than it is. Built mainly between 1831 and 1836, the Castle is the realisation of one man’s fantasy. He was Lord Stuart de Rothesay, a distinguished diplomat. When he built Highcliffe Castle he was following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Lord Bute, who had built an earlier mansion on the cliff-top site when it was just open heathland. The magnificent building, once lavishly furnished in the 18th century French style, remained a family home until the 1950s. Then, in the late 1960s, two fires reduced it to a roofless ruin. For the next two decades, after years of playing host to royalty, the rich and the famous, only a flock of white doves came to stay amid the derelict rooms.

Today the Castle’s renovated exterior is testimony to the remarkable skills of craftsmen and women who carried out a huge repair and conservation programme in the 1990s, jointly funded by Christchurch Borough Council, English Heritage and a £2.65 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. To continue the coastal amble, exit the castle the same way you came in, going straight ahead out of castle exit to main road. Turn RIGHT. 0.1m

Note Lord Bute on your right. This was the gatehouse for the original mansion — in fact the current castle is built on top of the original mansion’s cellars. BEWARE SPEED CAMERA!

Follow road through Highcliffe to roundabout, turn RIGHT onto A337 Lymington Road, signed New Milton. 1.1m

Just after Chewton Glen Hotel on your left, turn RIGHT into Western Avenue, signed Barton-on-Sea, cliff top. 0.6m

To T-junction at end, turn LEFT into Marine Drive West. 0.6m Note good view of Needles as you drive along here.

To T-junction at end, turn RIGHT into Marine Drive. 0.2m

Follow road along seafront and take the last possible LEFT into Becton Lane. 0.7m

Follow road around towards Milford-on-Sea until you reach a T-junction. Turn RIGHT into Milford Road, signed Milford-on-Sea. 0.7m

Just after brown sign to Shorefield Park, there is a layby on the right. Pull in to take a look at the old remains and churchyard of Church. Worried Victorian parishioners had the church moved inland because they feared the old site was going to topple into the sea. It still hasn’t! 1.3m

Enter Milford-on-Sea. Note the view of Hurst Castle and lighthouse.

WESTOVER HALL HOTEL is on your right. This beautiful building, right, once belonged to William Morris. Cream teas, coffee etc are available if you want a peep inside. 1.2m

Built in 1897 by Arnold Mitchell, for the German industrialist Alexander Siemens, without regard to cost, the house was acknowledged to be the most luxurious residence on the south coast of England. One of the finest features is the impressive series of stained-glass windows in the magnificent oak-panelled main hall. By the Scottish artist Oscar Paterson, they depict pre-Raphaelite scenes from The Enchanted Wood and were installed at Siemens’s request because his wife disliked curtains! Siemens brought electricity to England and also laid the first cable across the Atlantic.

Westover Hall was later home to William Morris, Lord Nuffield, but it was said that the snobbish attitude of the locals towards a self-made multi-millionaire was the reason he eventually sold the house.

After passing Westover Hall, take the first RIGHT, beside Francis of Assisi church, into Westover Road. 0.1m

Follow the road around and turn LEFT at the red telephone box into Sea Road. 0.5m Further along this road on the right is a car park. Park here if you wish to explore the village of Milford-on-Sea, or have a coffee or lunch.

Immediately after the car park, at the T-junction, turn RIGHT, signed , Hurst Castle. 0.3m

Turn RIGHT into New Lane. 0.4m

Continue until you approach a shingle bank. You can park along the side of the road for free here and walk all the way along the shingle bank to Hurst Castle (around 2 1/2 miles there and back), if you wish. Or just take a look at the sea, mudflats and wildlife at this end of the shingle spit! 0.1m

Hurst Castle is the closest point on the mainland to the Isle of Wight, being only three-quarters of a mile from the island, and the views from the top of the centre keep are spectacular. It was the perfect location from which to defend the western approach to the Solent. The castle was built by Henry VIII as one of a chain of coastal fortresses and was completed in 1544. Charles I was imprisoned here in 1648 before being taken to London to his trial and execution.

The castle was modernised during the Napoleonic wars and again in the 1870’s when the enormous armoured wings were constructed. Two of the huge 38-ton guns installed in the 1870’s can be viewed in their casemates. During World War II, Hurst was manned with coastal gun batteries and searchlights. Since the castle has been opened to the public many more exhibits and exhibitions have been installed, including the newly opened lighthouse museum.

Once you’ve finished at the spit, continue along the sea road, now moving away from the shingle bank, for some way, passing The Gun pub, until you enter Keyhaven. Then turn RIGHT at the grass triangle (with cross on it) into Lymore Lane. 0.5m

Opposite The Gun pub you will see what is now a large nature reserve but was once the area where salt was produced from the sea water. Lymington supplied the whole of the south of England with salt until Cheshire salt was discovered and destroyed the market for expensive sea salt. Follow the road for some way until you reach T-junction at end, turn RIGHT, then almost immediately at another T-junction turn RIGHT again onto A337, signed Lyndhurst, Lymington, Pennington. 1.8m

To roundabout, turn RIGHT, brown sign Riverside, marinas. 1.8m

To roundabout, turn RIGHT. 0.7m

Follow road all the way into Lymington, passing Lymington marina on your right. Where the road bends sharply to the left, turn RIGHT if you wish to visit Lymington’s quaint cobbled quay. This is a dead end with a small car park (£1.30 for 1 hour). You can see the old customs houses and warehouses that were once part of Lymingtons vast salt industry. 1.0m

Coming back from the quay to the sharp bend, turn RIGHT to go around the bend and follow the road up and round to the right.

At T-junction turn LEFT along Lymington High Street (limited free parking available on the High Street or to get to a pay & display car park, turn right halfway up the High Street beside the Costa coffee shop or turn left further up the High Street beside M&S). There are plenty of shops and coffee/lunch opportunities here. 0.2m

The Saxons arrived in what is now South West Hampshire in the 6th century. They founded a settlement called limen tun. The name Lymington was first recorded in 689 AD. At the time of Domesday Book in 1086 the settlement was called Lentune.

Lymington was made a town by the Lord of the manor, William de Redvers in the period 1190-1200, and was given the right to hold a market. Merchants and craftsmen would come to sell their goods so the High Street was deliberately made wide to hold all the market stalls and goods.

From the Middle Ages until the 19th century Lymington was famous for making salt from seawater. The seawater was left to evaporate in the sun or boiled in copper pans leaving a salt residue. The salt was then taken by sea to other parts of England.

Medieval Lymington was a busy port. Wine was imported from France and cloth woven in Salisbury was exported. (Much to the annoyance of the people of Southampton — they resented the competition from Lymington.)

During the hundred years’ war, which dragged on through the 14th and 15th centuries, the French attacked and burned Lymington twice. Once in 1338 (when they also attacked Southampton and Portsmouth) and again in 1370. The French burned Lymington again in 1545.

In 1685 the Protestant Duke of Monmouth led a rebellion against the Catholic king James II. The townspeople wholeheartedly supported him. They raised a troop of cavalry who were led by the mayor. However the rebellion was crushed.

In the late 17th century a boatbuilding industry began in Lymington. Around this time Celia Fiennes, the travel writer, said of the town: “Lymington is a seaport town. It has some few small ships and some little trade but the greatest trade is by their salterns.” In the early 18th century Daniel Defoe said that all of Southern England obtained its salt from Lymington. By then another important industry was flourishing in Lymington — smuggling!

In 1731 a merchant from called William Cross built a dam across the river, much to the annoyance of the townspeople. He turned the dam into a toll bridge. The river tended to silt up and this was made worse by the dam. In 1738 the first poor house was built in Lymington. The first theatre opened in 1771 in New Lane and in 1783 a prison was built in High Street. By the time of the first census in 1801 the population of Lymington was 2,378. It would seem very small to us but by the standards of the time it was a bustling market town.

The first cricket club in Lymington was founded in 1807. The football club was founded in 1876. In 1830 the first paddle steamer travelled between Lymington and Yarmouth. Gas street lighting arrived in 1832 and a piped water supply in 1884. In 1836 the first real police force in was formed in Lymington. It merged with the county constabulary in 1853. A fire brigade was formed in 1889. In 1833 the baths, an open air swimming pool, opened. In 1836 the poorhouse was rebuilt. This time it was called the workhouse and conditions inside were made deliberately harsh to discourage ‘idlers’ from seeking help. Until the middle of the century there was a market house standing in the middle of the High Street. It was demolished in 1855. The railway reached Lymington in 1858.

It was in the early 19th century that Lymington’s flourishing salt making industry declined. The seawater was boiled using coal brought in barges by sea. But Lymington was further from the coalfields than other places where salt was manufactured and the cost of transporting the coal had to be passed on to the consumer. Then in the mid-19th century mineral salt was discovered in Cheshire, which provided a cheap new source, and the Lymington industry promptly died out. The last salt works closed in 1865.

There had been a boat building industry in Lymington since the late 17th century. From the early 19th century there was specifically a yacht-making industry and yachting continues to be part of the town’s economy. The population of Lymington was 4,182 in 1851 but it hardly changed in the second half of the 19th century. In 1901 it stood at 4,165. The end of population growth was largely because of the death of the salt trade. But in the 20th century new industries came to Lymington and population growth began again.

In 1913 a hospital was opened, paid for by voluntary donations. A new Town Hall was built the same year but was demolished in 1966 to make way for a shopping precinct. A cinema called the Lyric also opened in 1913 (but closed in 1963) and a fire destroyed 5 houses in Belmore Lane. Disaster again hit Lymington in 1916 when there was a severe flood.

In 1919 the Wellworthy engineering works was founded. One of the new industries, they produced pistons for our Morris cars. It closed in 1989. In 1932 slum clearance began in Lymington. In 1941 a furniture shop in St Thomas Street was destroyed by a bomb. Lymington gained a new coat of arms in 1965. In 1989 another severe flood affected the town. St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery opened in 1999.

Here endeth your history lesson!

Back in your car, at the top end of the High Street, you enter a short two-lane one-way section of road. Take the LEFT-HAND LANE, signed A337 Christchurch, New Milton, Milford-on-Sea. 0.7m To roundabout, go STRAIGHT OVER. 0.3m

Continue until you reach EVERTON. Ignore the first turning right to the village and instead take the SECOND turning signposted EVERTON. 2.0m

Continue all the way along that road, through Hordle, to T-junction with Shell garage on your right. Turn RIGHT, then almost immediately LEFT at mini- roundabout into Vaggs Lane. 4.8m

At T-junction at end turn LEFT (next to the site of the new church moved here from its original site on cliff top near Milford where you saw the cemetery.) 1.0m

Continue along that road until you reach Sammy Miller Museum. 2.1m

We hope you enjoyed the drive.

Early Oxford registered Morris Minor Fabric Saloon UD 2270 at Bibury, Oxon circa 1930