A Cold and Frosty morning at Kings Hat.

The Beaulieu River at Kings Hat

It was very cold and frosty this morning, but the forest looks so pretty.

The dogs loved their walk and they were racing about. no chance of them getting cold. Fortunately there was no wind and with the sun it was pleasant walking.

The red stems of the dog wood were very pretty in the morning sun.

it was a very enjoyable winter walk.

Common Darter I think!

House on the Beaulieu River

Feeding time for the Ducks

Bucklers Hard


Lunch time

Horse Looking at me!

At Last a Sunny Morning

Today we awoke to beautiful sunshine and we decided to get out and enjoy it. So at 8 O'clock we were driving to the Forest. Our first stop was Kings Hat and we went down to see if we could cross the foot bridge. As Missy swam across the foot path we realised that the answer was no, so we got back in the car and went on to Pigbush.
The Forest is very wet and muddy but we had our wellies on and the dogs were having a wonderful time splashing in the puddles and racing through the heather and bracken. It was so good to feel the warm (almost too warm) sunshine on us.
The Ponies were all out in the sun, I bet they welcomed a respite from the rain.
Towards the end of the walk we have to cross the Beaulieu river by the ford, fortunately there is a bridge here as well because the Ford was deep enough for the dogs to have a swim and we could see the water would soon be up to the bottom of the bridge.
We really enjoyed the walk, but alas they are predicting yet more rain!

A walk at Kingshat

In the Trees by the Beaulieu River

One of the little streams on our route, below Karen just manages to wade across this one.


Karen and I decided to take a chance and see if we could have a walk whilst the sun was shining this morning. Well we didn't get that wet although we had several small showers. The Beaulieu River was just over the path by the bridge, but we easily waded across. because we could cross here we did not think we would have a problem doing a circular walk. However as we got back towards the car park we came to the little stream that runs into the Beaulieu River and we just could not find a place to cross, in the end we had to make a detour up to the road and then walk along it until we reached the car park. Normally in the summer you can do this walk in trainers and I have never found the little stream so deep to be uncrossable before.

Rain Rain Rain....It must be Wimbledon!

Beaulieu River at Pigbush

Missy waiting for her ball and below Raffles hoping for biscuits



Well it must be the start of Wimbledon , It rained almost nonstop over the weekend and Monday and today we have heavy showers. We took a walk at Pigbush this morning and were lucky to only have a little bit of drizzle. As soon as we got back in the car it poured!

Yellow waterlilies on the Beaulieu River

Summer has returned

It has been a beautiful day. This morning we walked at Kings Hat. The carpark was busy as people got out their chairs and picnic paraphernalia, but once we had crossed the Beaulieu River we had the forest almost to ourselves. There was a gentle breeze to cool us down a little and the rays of the sun to keep us warm. After we had been up the hill along and down we tried to follow the River, watching the dragonflies and damsel flies, but in the trees where it was cool and green and shady it was also very boggy. The heavy rain in May had made the little streams that run into the river difficult to cross and because we weren't wearing boots we had to make several detours.
There are so many different wild flowers in bloom now, we are so lucky to have so much variety here in th Forest.
I put a few we saw today in the previous post and then some shots from our walk before that , blogger was playing up here and I wasn't able to label them!

Sun at Kings hat

At eight o Clock this morning the sun was shining, and the wind had dropped so we had a very pleasant walk at Kings Hat.
This little stream is usually just a small trickle in summer and you can step across it waring trainers, without getting your feet wet. The rain over the weekend has been so heavy and constant. today it was almost over our boots.
The Beaulieu river was topped right up and we could see that it had burst its banks over the weekend, but was now receding. At least we shouldn't have hosepipe bans this summer.

Little Egret on the Beaulieu River at Beaulieu. We spotted him on the river, but he was a fair way off and I was surprised these photos came out so well

it was very Misty when we started our walk this morning

Missy cleans off in the river

This little bridge is hidden in the trees and can take some finding


The sun soon burnt off the mist and here Raffles is surveying his kingdom

Matley Woods in the Rain showers

Today we walked from the carpark at Matley woods, It is a very long time since I last did this , so it made a nce change. We had showery weather and quite a cold wind blowing.When we got down to the beaulieu River we could see that it had burst its banks



Most of the ponies we saw today were sheltering in the woods rather than out on the open heathland.

Some scenes from our walk this afternoon.

The Beaulieu River at Deerleap. The water levels are still very high. Missy really enjoyed playing and swimming. Raffles was more interested in Biscuits!