SO42 7WT SU 3681 0146 very popular beauty spot with car park and on the bus routes numbers 112 and 761. Circular walk of 2.5 miles with options to join longer tracks at various points.
SO42 7WT SU 3681 0146 very popular beauty spot with car park and on the bus routes numbers 112 and 761.
Circular walk of 2.5 miles with options to join longer tracks at various points.
Hatchet Pond is the largest area of open freshwater in the New Forest and was formed over 200 years ago by the damming of the stream to power the local mill. Just outside Beaulieu, it is one of the busiest spots in the National Park and can often seem horribly overcrowded, so I would suggest going very early, very late or out of season! Walking and fishing are permitted, but not swimming (even dogs) or watersports, although many thoughtless ill-informed people disregard these rules.
Hatchet Pond is teeming with wildlife and is a very precious habitat, but not all its visitors seem to value or appreciate this.
One third of all species of wetland plants thrive here as well as many freshwater insects. Birds living or visiting here include herons, egrets, ducks, swans, terns, oystercatchers and coots. On the surrounding heathland you can see and hear Dartford warblers and spot many butterflies such as the silver-studded blue. On the quieter reaches of the pond away from the crowds, dragonflies and damselflies are in abundance. Bogbeans grow in the more sheltered northerly parts of the pond – with little shelter, the pond can be choppy all year round.
The circular route around the pond can get boggy and be careful to keep away from the ground-nesting birds from March to July – keep your dogs on the tracks during this time.
The pond is visited by many ponies, cattle and donkeys and they have learnt to hover around the car park to get fed by the visitors : please don’t! To fish on the pond you need a permit and licence – in recent years many large carp were removed by natural England to enhance the water quality, but this proved an unpopular move with local fishermen!
Hatchet Pond is an iconic spot and is now atypical of the worrying inbalance between visitors and the needs of the environment – this is a special place and it is sad to see many people treat it like a municipal park or playground.
Major concerns about damage after the Covid lockdown ended resulted in a joint project by Forestry England, Freshwater Habitats Trust and Natural England to safeguard this special place. The toilet block was removed and the car park moved away from the pond edge to reduce erosion. Improved signage hopes to educate and inform visitors about the fragile ecosystem here.
Sunrise and sunset , or crisp winter days, may be the best times to really enjoy this place in peace and at its finest!