East Boldre, SO41 5RT SU 35762 00502 Excellent for level walking and great long distance views, Beaulieu Heath has many clear tracks and an octagonal circular route which can easily be completed in less than
East Boldre, SO41 5RT
SU 35762 00502
Excellent for level walking and great long distance views, Beaulieu Heath has many clear tracks and an octagonal circular route which can easily be completed in less than an hour and a half.
There are two car parks, one near what is now a model aircraft flying area. The New Forest tour bus passes here .
The tracks remain from the days of the second World War airfield, when first RAF bombers and fighters were based here and then the US Air Force. Opened in 1942, the airfield remained in use for experimental flights until 1959, when it was handed over to the Crown lands. Since then it has been managed by the Forestry Commission. As well as remnants of the 570 acres of runways, you can see traces of tracks built from brick rubble used from bombed out houses in Southampton and even the large letters “BL” carved into the ground. There were three converging runways in the layout of the letter A.
This heath is very exposed and can be a bracing place to walk or get extremely wet in bad weather! The paths are often puddly and this winter some parts were impassable even in wellies. Edged with shrub and woodland, the heath is popular with New Forest ponies and donkeys and has good patches of gorse and multiple fungi in autumn and early winter. However, in sunny weather it is stunning and the skies are huge. Ground nesting birds and other wildlife thrive here and it is an area renowned for butterflies. Species found here include the Silver-studded Blue, Grayling and Dark Green Fritillary.
