Just outside Lymington. SO41 8NL There is a small car park, which can be reached from Lymington or Sway. The New Forest tour bus passes during the season. The car park is near St Dominic’s
Just outside Lymington. SO41 8NL
There is a small car park, which can be reached from Lymington or Sway. The New Forest tour bus passes during the season. The car park is near St Dominic’s priory
This leads to an area of ancient woodland covering about 300m and a similar sized open area – sloping down to gorse, bracken and brambles with long tracks and a muddy stream at the bottom. The woodland is ancient and quite spooky on a gloomy day with lots of strangely lopped trees and shelters, some with tree stump seats. Evidently this area has been the place for some rural banquets in the distant past and a location for getting involved in the “giddy” dance.
This is a great place very near Lymington for a dog walk or run and covers such a variety of habitat in a small area. I particularly like it if time is short or the weather inclement as you can quickly shelter in the copse. The sloping area down to the stream is so different at each season as the ferns and bracken change the landscape – during summer you can suddenly meet deer or ponies on the narrow tracks when the ferns are over waist high.
Just across the road are many paths across Setley Plain, with good views across to Sway and its tower in one direction and towards the railway line in the other. Until the Beeching cuts in 1965 there was a train halt at Shirley Holm which opened in 1860. If you walk down the path on the left is will take you over a ford and then up a track over the Coxhill railway bridge to reach Setley Pond.
The heathland has tracks in several directions and leads up to Three Beech Bottom – some areas get very boggy in winter, but all have great views and contrasting habitat.
Dartford warblers, stonechat, linnets and nightjars live on the heath so keep dogs to the main tracks at ground-nesting season. Just to the left is a mound, which is one of several disc barrows or tumuli found on the heath.
Overall, Shirley Holmes has so much to offer throughout the whole year and give a real taste of all the New Forest has to enjoy and protect.
