
The inscription on one side of the "Rufus Stone"
From
the Rufus Stone we walked about 200m along the road to
the Sir Walter Tyrell pub at map ref. SU268126. We crossed
the road in front of the pub and set off across the cropped
grass for about 500m to cross a stream called Coalmeer
Gutter at map ref. SU263127.
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This
morning we drove a few miles to the car park at the "Rufus
Stone", map ref. SU270124. There is now a cast iron
monument to replace the stone vandalised in the nineteenth
century by souvenir hunters.

The inscription
on one side of the "Rufus Stone"
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The pub in Upper Canterton
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Pony grazing the short cropped grass
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A pony resting by a fallen branch
After
about 800m we reached another stream crossing at King's
Garn Gutter and on the other side was a golf course. We
followed the track around the edge of the golf course
for about 350m to map ref. SU266138.
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Once
across the stream we turned right to head roughly north
along a strip about 100m wide between two enclosure boundaries.
There is a decent grassy path once you get going.

My wife on her mobile phone!! Urggggh!
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Gorse, bracken
and heather that blend into the New Forest heath
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Pigs & cattle foraging together
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A New Forest glade, just an ordinary bit of the New Forest
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Pigs looking for
acorns, chestnuts, crab apples etc.
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Cattle heading off at a determined pace
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Track around the edge of Bramshaw golf course on Brook Common
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The ford on the road through Canterton
At
this junction we turned left to walk along a track for
about 800m to map ref. SU277132. There were a few houses
here on the edge of the open forest land.
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From
the golf course we turned down a track to turn right on
to the road. We followed the road across a ford and to
a junction with a small red letterbox on a wooden post.

The track out to Lower Canterton
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Ponies grazing at Lower Canterton
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Beefsteak bracket fungus on an oak tree
It's
a very busy dual carriageway and the noise from the road
just builds and builds as you approach it through the
trees. From the underpass we followed the road into the
village of Minstead.
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We turned right to follow a track in front of the houses.
At the last house we headed due south through the trees
for about 650m to an underpass beneath the A31.

Stocks on the village green in Minstead
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The church in Minstead
At
the church gate we took the path on the right hand side
down the side of the churchyard. The path emerged on to
the road in Newtown at map ref. SU278107.
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We stopped at the village pub for lunch which turned out
to be a rather ordinary affair. From the pub we walked
along the road up a slope that felt quite steep to me
to reach the church at map ref. SU281108 where Sir Arthur
Conan-Doyle (author of Shirlock Holmes) is buried.

The churchyard
in Minstead
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Footpath from Minstead Church comes out at Newtown
At
the bend the turned right over a stile and followed a
footpath for about 900m to Furzey Gardens, an ornamental
garden open to the public.
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From
here we followed the road for a few hundred metres to
a junction at map ref. SU276109 where we turned left and
followed the road for about 500m to a sharp left hand
bend.

Boardwalk on the way to Furzey Gardens
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Woodland path
from Furzey Gardens towards the A31 underpass
Through the underpass we followed the track for about
150m and then took the path across the grassland back
to the Rufus Stone and the car park.
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We
stopped at their coffee shop for some welcome refreshments
before walking along the footpath from the gardens to
another underpass beneath the A31 at map ref. SU268119.

Underpass beneath the A31
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I
took this route from a book we bought from the tourist
information office. It's called "Mike Power's Walks
In The New Forest". It has some good route ideas
but I found it best to use the book to find the route
on my Explorer map and use that to navigate. The route
descriptions do not give any distances to the next landmark
or any map references to tie down the position.

Grassland & woodland sloping down to the Rufus Stone and
Upper Canterton
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