VV june july 2022

Beaulieu Heath & Stockley
A Walk by Suzanne Ashworth
SO42 7QL SU 3421 0216 Stockley car
park
This is a good place for easy walking, and you can extend a
short stroll onto a much longer circular walk all around
Beaulieu heath if you wish.
Stockley car park is on the B3055 road between Beaulieu
and Brockenhurst. It is on a corner near Stockley Cottage –
the lovely residence of a lucky forest keeper!
Now a tranquil spot, this was very busy during World War
two as the base to support nearby Beaulieu airfield was built
here. Some concrete paths remain, and the surrounding
area has become Roundhill campsite.
Path from Stockley
Leave the car park and walk on the wide gravel paths
through the glades of trees towards the campsite and past
the woodland through which you can glimpse the cottage.
Just before the campsite take the path to the left and from
there many tracks lead alongside farmland and onto the
heath.
We like to take a wide circular track right along the side of
the farm past the campsite and then turn onto Beaulieu
heath – this provides a lovely contrast between woodland
and open heath.
Most of the wide tracks will lead you back to the car park
eventually. There are great views in all directions and plenty
of off lead exercise for dogs outside the season of ground
nesting birds – keep your dog on a lead from March to Late
July.
Stockley Woodland
SO42 7QL SU 3421 0216 Beaulieu Heath car park
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 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.
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