New Forest

I had booked a weekend away and Titch did not know where until she got in the car. She was delighted to learn that we were heading to the New Forest. After making good time we arrived at our bed and breakfast - the room was fantastic and it had the most comfortable bed in the world.

The forecast was for sun all weekend which was brilliant especially after all the rain the area had experienced lately.

Of course I had planned a few forest walks and one of them started down the road near Brockenhurst station. It led us towards a church with a large graveyard which had a huge memorial to NZ soldiers who died in WW1. Looking at the gravestones showed a lot of the soldiers were from Wellington. After a little bit of internet research it turns out the New Zealand World War 1 hospital was located in Brockenhurst - which I guess explains why the kiwi dead were buried here.

Soon after the church we had to leave the paved road as we headed down a bridle way. Mud Galore. My white trainers were shrieking in terror. After some nimble jumping and clinging to fences we managed to get past the worst of it. Throughout the day the mud posed various challenges and eventually we had to call of the walk due to a huge mud lake for about 100 meters just before the "Farm" on the map.

After retracing our steps and taking a few detours we managed to find a nice pub near Sandy Down and managed to have a quiet pint and sandwich in the glorious sunshine. After inspectecing my white trainers I decided that I had done miraculously well in keeping them clean. Good thing too as I had booked a surprise dinner for Titch at the Michelin starred Le Poussin restaurant at Whitley Ridge - I am sure the welcome would be anything but warm if we had mud caked shoes...

Whitley Ridge is quite grand and old, secluded in an isolated spot in the heart of the New Forest. The place oozes excellence and we would not be disappointed.

After being greeted we were escorted to the lounge where we enjoyed some fantastic canapés. After a short while we were led to one of the two small dinning areas.

I started with the Feuillete Of Roasted Scallop And Cep With Water Cress Salad and a Light Butter Sauce. While Titch went for the Winter Salad of Marinated Butternut Squash, wild Mushrooms & Baby Vegetables with a Truffle Dressing.

We treated ourselves to a bottle of the delightful Martinborough Pinot Noir "Te Tara" 2004 - Titch could only have a small glass and I limited myself to two small glasses as I had to drive. Shame.

I went for the MeadowBrook Sirloin raised in The Forest On Rich Clover And Rye, Water Meadow And Barley Soaked In Beer. Titch went for the Venison which was cooked to perfection.

Desert was delicious - Titch went for the Coffee & Chocolate option consisting of Valrhona Chocolate Fondant, Tiramisu, Sweet Potato Bark & Espresso Ice Cream. Whereas I made a move towards the Hot Passion Fruit Souffle With Passion Fruit Sorbet And Passion Fruit Curd.

Once desert was done we retired to the den where I then ordered a fine port - Churchill’s Vintage 1991. Fantastic drop to end the night with.

The next day we started a walk (Taken from the book entitled "Short walks from good pubs in the New Forest") at a small village called "Bank". As we pulled up we had the bizarre sensation that we had been here before - it turns out that this is the very pub that we stopped at for lunch many years ago; when a big group of us hired bikes and went cycling through the forest.

The walk was a short 3 miles and once finished we had a light lunch and a pint of beer (Ringswood Bitter) at the reminiscing pub...

We thought we would drive through the new forest and head up towards Stonehenge. I have driven past it so many times with barely a glance so I thought it deserved a visit (Especially as it might be one of the last opportunities I get before I leave the UK). The drive through the new forest was stunning - it really made a nice change from the sometimes drab views of London.

Arriving at Stonehenge we pulled into the carpark , as we approached the ticket booth I was under no illusion about the £12.60 that I was about to waste. As we walked through the tunnel under the road and came up next to Stonehenge I was not surprised to find that the view was just as good from the side of the road (cost £0.00).

You walk around a large circle with some rocks in the middle and then you leave - I guess all I can say is "Tick"...