SZ 35222 99148 SO41 5QZ on B3054 towards Lymington from Beaulieu Although on the main road, this place is often overlooked – there is a car park adjacent to the clump of Scots pines which
SZ 35222 99148 SO41 5QZ
on B3054 towards Lymington from Beaulieu
Although on the main road, this place is often overlooked – there is a car park adjacent to the clump of Scots pines which is visible for miles. Fairly flat paths lead across the heathland towards Norleywood, Wormslade and the distant railway line. With the Crockford stream meandering across this heath it gets very boggy and in winter many additional waterways appear.
It is a great place for dogs with off lead exercise possible , but be sure to wear wellies in autumn and winter and bring a towel as your dog will get muddy! In summer the paths are sandy and the open heath can be hot on sunny days – best to wear stout footwear all year round as there are unexpected marshy bits and probably adders too in the areas with bracken and gorse.
Crockford is a vital area for rare wildlife and in the nesting period of groundnesting birds such as nightjars, woodcock and the Dartford warbler the site is closed and the car park shut. This is usually from May to the end of August and all walkers (incuding dogs) must keep to the tracks – special orange signs will indicate the protected areas. On summer evenings the nightjars can be heard churring.
The bogs and streams support many unusual and scarce plants such as bog myrtle and black bog rush. Wet spagnum moss, yellow centuary, coral necklace, brookweed and allseed also flourish in this heathland. Large marsh grasshoppers and mud snails live amongst the boggy marshland tracts.
This area is also of special scientific importance for dragon and damselflies – the golden-ringed dragonfly and the very rare Southern damselfly and keeled skimmers thrive here.
Walking in winter at Crockford is an eery experience with streams and waterways springing up everywhere. The valley bottom and the ridge beyond the gorse has some ancient patches of woodland – the bare burnt gorse, twisted hollies and gnarled oaks make for a strange atmosphere and I have rarely met anyone other than an occasional rider and some solitary New Forest ponies. On a gloomy winter late afternoon, it is surreal to be in a place of such bleak beauty and it is easy to forget that the busy main road is just beyond Crockford Clump itself.
