Well ..... after a massive gap in blog posting ... we're back!!! Software changes and glitches prevented updates for over a year so there's a lot to catch up on.
The main thing is that we've been very busy in the last 12 months: it's not particularly obvious from the website because many of our walks and walking breaks are privately organised but, for example, we have done a series of walks for Saga, several corporate walks and a large number of walks in the Forest with passengers from cruise ...
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Beefsteak fungus

Penny Bun (Cep)

Richard’s Fungal Infection (sorry Affection)

On one of the latest New Forest based weekends in October, we took a safari through the lesser walked jungle between Shave Wood, north of Lyndhurst, and the New Forest Lodge hotel, on the outskirts of the village.  The route was one of Steve’s enjoyable meanderings ‘off piste’, as he likes to put it, in other words there is no distinct path and the group has to trust his unerring sense of direc...

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The following details have been provided for a release to the media in 2014 -

Get close to Nature with a seasonal walking break

The New Forest is beautiful all year round but perhaps reaches its spectacular best in the Spring and Autumn. And that is a great time to get close and personal with nature with a guided walk through quiet glades, open heathland and along the edge of meandering wooded streams.

To make the experience even more pleasurable you can now enjoy a weekend break package a...

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We had a great weekend at the Shillingford Bridge Hotel in Oxfordshire at the end of October. We were very fortunate with the weather, getting back to the cars on Saturday just as the rain arrived! The walk itself took us through varied countryside with some magical views of the rolling Oxfordshire landscape and an excellent pub stop en route.
In the evening there was a Hallowe'en knees-up at the hotel which was good fun. The group from Essex Singles particularly "went for it" but Richard and ...
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Yes, time flies when you are enjoying yourself! And I feel suitably embarrassed about the gap since the last "ramblings" (though I'm not at all sure anyone reads them ... would love to hear from anyone who does .. maybe I should put something contentious, naughty or non-pc down to see if there's any reaction... how about we should try to run over as many baby hedgehogs in August as possible ...?)
But I digress ....
Breaking news ... I have just managed to set up a tripadvisor account for Fuzzac...
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So we’ve reached the end of another year in the Fuzzacker calendar! All in all 2012 has been pretty successful, although not particularly in financial or visitor number terms.  We won’t be driving around the Forest in Rollers just yet! But we’ve had a great year in terms of the walks we’ve had, the people we’ve met and the experiences we’ve shared.

It’s been a terrible year for weather and the Forest, like most of the UK, is one colossal bog – a mass of mud and puddles. Yet, ...

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 My partner-in-crime Richard has produced a look-back over the last 6 months or so. Maybe you were there ....


 Descending from Ballard Down - no time to lose with a train to catch

Richard's Ramble
We have always been lucky with the weather, with only a very few walks where getting wet has taken the edge off what would have been a brilliant day.  There have been some memorable moments involving water but these come up regularly in our little anecdotes. Recently though, if we were to take a walk w...
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View descending Fairfield looking over Rydal Water with Windermere in the distance I thought it would be hard work - and it was!! In the last week my friend Alan and I managed to climb Great Gable and the Fairfield Horseshoe (not in the same day!). It was knackering at times and, not being accustomed to climbing nearly 3000 ft, my legs moaned and groaned about it all for days; however it was all worth while and the views and special atmosphere experienced at the tops of high fells are just so...

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Walking under the big skies of Norfolk (thanks to Pat of Spelthorne Ramblers for the photo). I'm the chunky canary in front! 
        We (Phil Howe and Me) were here leading some walks along the north Norfolk coast. Beautiful area - and nice and flat too. We saw a good mixture of wildlife, especially wading birds such as avocets and oyster catchers. One of the best sightings was a barn owl in broad daylight - think he (or she) was a bit of a poser, doing a display flight before alighting on a...

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Rambling on (about) Dartmoor

Here’s some more detail about the planned routes for the Dartmoor break. These walks have interest and variety  and include some of the best views to be found on the Moor.

 

First up is the Railway Route as I call it which mainly follows the path of the disused  Plymouth to Princetown railway. This walk is just over 10 miles long in total but the good news is that we will have a pub stop in Princetown just after halfway ..... and, of course, the other good ne...

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This is a busy time of year. In the Forest it is a prime time for conservation tasks so, along with lots of other volunteers, I’ve been doing my share of ride-clearing, pine-pulling, and hedge-laying. It’s also  taken time to get the programme of hotel walks sorted out for the coming year although I have to say, without exception, the hotel managers involved have been extremely helpful.

 

Details of the various breaks, dates and prices, can be found on the website under “Information o...

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My apologies for the long break in posting - mixture of tech problems + not too much to report + lack of time.
Anyway, a few things to tell you about now.....
The Autumn weekend at the Forest Park hotel went well with good weather, good food and good company as ever. I was pleased that the elusive tawny owl deigned to appear (so many times I've said, "There's an owl lives in that tree" without a single feather subsequently on view!) That's him (or her) above - a photo taken by Rick Gill on a la...

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Just a short entry this, just to say what a great afternoon we had. It was only a small group but after an enjoyable walk we met up with Pete & Mandy Pidgley of the Haywards stud farm who gave us the most fantastic talk about the breed. We had the privilege of standing in a field containing several mares with their foals of less than a month old while Pete gave us an insight into the life of a Commoner and the passion (you can't call it anything else) which keeps alive this traditional way of...
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This walk was such a pleasure. We had 19 people in the morning and 17 in the afternoon - as it happened pretty much all from Milford Tennis Club although I had made it available to anyone. Fortunately once again we had good weather and set off through the glorious beech woods of Mark Ash. On the way to Wooson's Hill some of us had the pleasant surprise of seeing a tawny owl fly out of a tree right in front of us (just a few seconds before I was going to say "There's a tawny owl lives in a tre...
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This is just to record what a good time we had on Dartmoor at Easter. Big thanks go to whoever organised the weather because it was just perfect - not too hot or too cold, and it meant the views were stunning. Also huge thanks to Frank Postel and his staff at the Moorland Links Hotel for their help and hospitality. It made a big difference and Richard and I are very grateful to you all.

And of course the guests, most of whom we had met previously on Forest Park walk weekends, were once again g...
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We thought that it would be a good idea to arrange a few events in advance so we've started off with May and hope to add walks and talks throughout the summer.

First up is a charity walk on Fri 13th from Anderwood car park (on the road between Burley and Lyndhurst). This will go through the glorious ancient beech woods of Mark Ash and then continue through to Acres Down with its high-level views across the New Forest before coming down to the pub at Emery Down. After a pleasant stop at the pub...
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The Dartmoor Walks

Well, I've had a look at some potential routes for the Easter weekend. Still got to make some decisions but overall its looking pretty good!
The first route checked was from Postbridge to Dartmeet via Bellever Tor; then along the East Dart river to the Bellever Forest and back to Postbridge. A super walk of around 10 miles with a stop for lunch halfway at Dartmeet, there are some great views and some fascinating sites of ancient stone rows and circles. It is a fairly varied r...

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