"Dave's Countryside Walks"

Hi, My name is Dave Ford and over the last four years or so, I have been recording videos of countryside walks that I have completed – always accompanied by my trusty companion, Logan (a pure bred Whippet).

The walks (which are mainly in Dorset, Hampshire ,the New Forest & West Sussex) are filmed in a relaxed & light-hearted style with the emphasis centred on the sights & sounds of the surrounding countryside. There are always interesting aspects to explore & investigate along the way such as historic buildings, wildlife & scenic views.

In a recent video, that was part of of my series “ New Forest Walks”, I took a 6 mile linear walk along the course of the Dockens Water – a stream that flows East to West across the New Forest from Fritham to the River Avon in Hampshire.

The Dockens Water in the New Forest

I started my journey at the source of the Dockens Water, just North of the village of Fritham in the New Forest. The stream soon goes through private land in Fritham & so I re-joined it at the Southern end of the village as it passes by the South Bentley Inclosure.

The next section was fairly straight forward as it is easy to follow the stream as it passes by Anses Wood, Holly Hatch Inclosure & Broomy Inclosure.

At Woodford Bottom I had to make a short detour away from the stream to bypass private land and re-joined it again at the foot of Great Bottom. However, the course of the stream then passes through Linwood Bog …. which is impossible to walk through! So I took another detour (passing by The Red Shoot Inn) and followed the road to Moyles Court.

I was able to follow a footpath back to the Dockens Water before Moyles Court but I soon had to return to the road as once again I came across bog! After a quick stop at the sandpit at Rockford (for Logan to have a run), I picked up the Dockens Water one more time at Moyles Court and followed it out of the New Forest National Park to the edge of the Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve.

Whilst the Dockens Water continues on, through the lakes, under the Ringwood to Fordingbridge road and on to the water meadows beyond Blashford Farm and finally into the River Avon – much of that remaining course is on private land. So I finished my journey (to follow the course of the stream) at the Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve and headed back to Rockford to my final destination – The Alice Lisle pub.

The video of my walk can be seen on my Youtube channel – I do hope that you enjoy it!