In this episode Dave is at Shirley Holms, Sway – just North West of Lymington in the South of the Forest – trying to find the legendary “Marlpit Oak”!
My 3 mile circular route starts at the Forestry Commission car park at Shirley Holms and I head North over open heathland across Setley Plane, past an ancient “earthwork bank” and what appears to be a canter track. There are some super views on this walk including a sighting of the famous Sway Tower to the South.
After crossing one of the many brick bridges over the main railway line, I get to the Marlpit crossroads where I explore the small wooded area nearby in search of the Marlpit Oak (I recount the grim story of this tree in the video!).
I then head back South towards Sway, passing a Pony Pound along the way.
Logan decided it would be fun to roll in some fox poo – resulting in him carrying an unpleasant aroma for the bulk of the walk!
At the very end of the video I have included a small 3 minute clip of some film footage of an exploration that I did 12 months previously, not far from the walk, of the site that was once RAF Sway – the smallest of the 12 RAF Airfields in the New Forest during WW2. It is just an empty field now but it does have it’s own story to tell.
Map courtesy of Google Maps.
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