Fritham to Godshill

Date: 25 November 2008

Distance: 8 1/3 miles
Parking: New Forest Fritham Car Park
Map: Explorer OL22 New Forest
Map ref for car park: SU231141

It is a good idea to plot the route on your map carefully before setting out for this walk as I found one or two of the paths indistinct or requiring a diversion due to saturation of the ground.

Walk back towards the entrance to the car park and turn left down the tarmac lane. In about 500 yards arrive at Iron Wells and the entrance to another car park. Walk up through the car park and past the barrier through trees. Leaving the trees find the indistinct path that goes uphill on pony-shaven lawns through heather and bracken after fording the stream that runs along the bottom of the rise. At the top of the hill is a wider path which forks, take the left hand fork and walk downhill from Homy Ridge to Claypits Bottom. Ford the stream and continue uphill towards the car park at Studley Head.

From the car park, take the wide track which skirts the western edge of the trees. Where another path goes off to the right, turn along this and follow it round to the right towards Leaden Hall, a wide shallow area of gravel, sand and grassed areas. Cross Leaden Hall and follow the wide grass track from the north west edge heading south west to Little Cockley Plain. At the T-junction turn right and continue along this track as it passes through groves of trees, goes down Cockley Hill and over the shallow bridge at the bottom to climb again the other side up to Ashley Walk car park at Godshill. If you wish, this is a good place to take a break.

As you face the road (Roger Penney Way) turn left and walk along Godshill Ridge until the cricket ground is reached. Bear left here and find the path running downhill again to Ditchend Bottom. Keep left wherever the path splits off and after fording another stream, enter Pitts Wood Inclosure from the north west, heading south east up a wide grass track. At the top of the track turn left on to a wide walk. Be careful in winter as the track is very muddy under the leaves that cover it. Where the path forks bear always to the right until the track becomes firm gravel and heads more steeply uphill to emerge on Hampton Ridge, merging with the cycle track. Turn left towards Amberwood Inclosure.

Keep along this cycle track, excellent underfoot in all weathers but does undulate quite a lot, and quite steeply in places, and will bring you back to Fritham car park.


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