Waterfall Cottage - Things to do


Maps, Guides & Books - The desk in the hall has a good selection of leaflets, maps, guides and local books. There is an excellent Information Office in Ringwood (telephone for times of opening 01425 470896) and also a very good bookshop in the town with many local guides and books.

Places to Visit - with some of our own comments -
Gardens- Exbury is magnificent from mid April to mid June for rhododendrons and azaleas; it also has a steam railway and a plant sales nursery. There are several other famous gardens such as Mottisfont Abbey & Hilliers within half an hour. A little further but still within easy reach are great gardens such as Stourhead, Cranborne Manor and Athelhampton. The Hampshire, Wiltshire and the Dorset Open Gardens Guides are in the file.

Local towns of interest
 Ringwood - 5 miles / 10 minutes - via the A31 or via the back road signposted to Crow & Moortown at the T-junction at Castle Hill, Burley Street. This back road takes you past a very good farm-shop.
Brockenhurst - 7 miles - much visited in summer but a nice village with some good restaurants and shops.
Lyndhurst - 8 miles - can get very crowded and traffic-blocked; many shops.
Christchurch - 10 miles - a nice harbour with attractive sea front and Mudeford beach.
Lymington - 12 miles - the harbour offers sailing boats and chandlers and a ferry to the Isle of Wight (which takes 30 minutes). It is a charming town in its own right.Lymington market is on Saturday.
Beaulieu - 15 miles - lovely for walks and especially the famous motor museum. It is a charming village on the Beaulieu River. 2 miles downstream, at Bucklers Hard is the 18th century shipyard and the Master Builders Hotel for lunches and drinks.

Further afield - Salisbury - is a charming small medieval city, with a magnificent cathedral which has the highest spire in England and an original copy of Magna Carta. The view over the water meadows towards the cathedral was voted the "Best View in England" by Country Life in 2004. Marketdays are Tuesday & Saturday. Old Sarum, the iron-age & roman fort, offers a series of heritage events during the year. Nearby Wilton, a few miles to the west, has the Carpet Factory and Wilton House, the home of the Earls of Pembroke as well as an adventure playground for children. On Salisbury Plain to the north are sites such as Stonehenge & Avebury.

Winchester - this city is as old as Salisbury and equally famous as a key Wessex site. The main attractions are the Cathedral which is as impressive, in its way, as Salisbury; the College which is the oldest continuously run school in England and the 13th century Great Hall of the Castle which houses the Round Table associated with King Arthur, if you want to know more, then the Winchester guide will tell you what you need. Marwell Zoo is nearby.

Bournemouth - see the guide but, for me, there are more interesting places to see.
Poole - the harbour includes the chain-ferry from Sandbanks (the 4th most expensive place to live IN THE WORLD) to the Isle of Purbeck.
Southampton has good shopping in a modern city especially at 3 Quays Shopping Centre.
Portsmouth offers the fascinating naval dockyards, including HMS Victory & Mary Rose.

Visitor Attractions - see leaflets - these include :-
           New Forest Otter, Owl & Wildlife Park - off the A35 near Southampton
           Moors Valley Adventure Park - on the Bournemouth road well signposted; this is a huge forest adventure playground, great for energetic boys
           Paulton Park family leisure park with rides, exit 2 M27
           Eling Tidal Mill - a sea-powered grain mill - phone 02380 869575 for tide times
           Romsey Rapids is not the nearest place for a swim but offers more interest than most.
Isle of Wight - a short ferry trip from Lymington.


Things to do - some of our own comments -
 The 'New Forest - Official Guide' and the 'Ringwood Guide' both have some very useful suggestions as well as some dross. The New Forest Show is held in Brockenhurst in mid summer and the pony sales take place in August, September and October at Beaulieu Road saleyard on the B3056. Both guides have a comprehensive calendar of events.

The New Forest has a wonderfully rich collection of animals, plants, birds, and insects within the bounds of the National Nature Reserve. If one lists the less common varieties - you can find vipers, badgers, curlews and unusual dragonflies; plantwise, there are orchids, sundew, bog asphodel and many varieties of fungi. There are several sites of Special Scientific Interest 'SSSI' around the area. Very little of the forest is heavily covered with trees; the most interesting features are the 'lawns' made by being eaten down by ponies, deer and cattle. The Forestry Commission offer special interest activities such as deer-watching during the summer - for details look in the Forestry Commission Forest Focus magazine in the bureau.

Walking - everywhere, see guidebooks and maps. A pleasant start is to walk to Rhinefield House Hotel about 5 miles - some of it can be along Mill Lawn Brook or through the enclosures off the Lyndhurst road; turn right at Woods Corner, at the end of Mill Lane. There are also two circular walks from Burley in the 'Pub Walks in the Forest Book'. There are spectacular views over to the east from Castle Hill Lane in the village and on the road back to Picket Post on the A31. Walking can be hard work if you go off the paths.

Cycling - similar to walking, there are cycle paths everywhere - see guidebooks & cycle-path map. From Woods Corner there is a 4 mile non-vehicle forest path to Bolderwood which can be a starter for the more ambitious.
Forest Leisure Cycling in Burley hires bicycles, tandems and trollies - 01425 403584.

#Riding - Burley is a major centre for riding in the forest; Weekly livery is available locally.
           Burley Villa Equestrian Centre 01425 610278 (for riding and livery - Phil Cramer)
           Bagnum Livery Stables 01425 476263;


#Golf - Burley Club, the nearest, requires a handicap certificate and membership of another club. Others do not. All nearby clubs have special midweek rates.

#Fly-Fishing - On the Earl of Normanton's estate at Somerley Park on the River Avon; contact Christchurch Angling Club on 01202 474648 (season runs from mid-June to mid-March). There are other sites for coarse and lake fishing. #Sailing - at Lymington and several coastal as well as on some of the Forest lakes.

Other Watersports are available at sites in the New Forest or on the coast.
# - special leaflets with telephone numbers and extra details are in the information file or look in Thomsons' Directory.

Beaches - Mudeford, near Christchurch, is lovely, sandy, safe and has crab-fishing from the quay as well as a small ferry to the beach & Hengistbury Head Nature reserve on the sandspit. From the other end of Hengistbury Head is a car-train. Between Christchurch and east to Milford on Sea are Highcliffe, Barton on Sea and Hordle which offer cliffs, beaches and clifftop cafes. Beyond Christchurch west towards Bournemouth are lovely sandy beaches at Southbourne and elsewhere.

Evenings - Local Culture in Salisbury, Winchester, Poole, Bournemouth & Southampton - . In these larger towns, there are theatres, concert-halls and clubs as well as a larger variety of restaurants, shops and so on. Looking in the local paper and at the Ringwood Information Office will show also that many of the local small towns actually offer quite an interesting variety of entertainment.

Additional Information
  Burley - local village services
Medical
There is a doctor's surgery in Burley on 01425 403263 Drs Bowery and Savage. For emergencies there is full A&E at Southampton General.
Church
Burley Parish Church is on Chapel Lane, near the Queens Head. Sunday Service is at 10.00am. The Rev Diane Webster is very welcoming.
Post & Papers
 There is a box at Lester Square about 300 yards beyond Mill Lawn ford. Burley Post Office is open from 9.00am - 1.00pm and some afternoons. The post-office shop opens at 8.30am for newspapers.
Garage Dawsons Garage, (on the Bransgore road) is open for serviced petroleum!
General Stores
Moormans (grocers, butchers, fresh bread etc & will deliver 01425 402205). It is open Mon to Sat - 8am - 1pm & some afternoons also Sun. 10am - 1pm
The Burley Farmers Market is on the first Sunday of each month (behind the Queens Head)
 
Visitor Attractions in Burley
 Burley Wagon rides which are not as naff as they seem, in fact rather enjoyable; depart from the Queen's Head car park.
New Forest Cider maker, Pound Lane, Burley.

Eating and Drinking
Local first class restaurants which we have tried and can recommend :-
  Chewton Glen - New Milton 01425 282 213 
  Gordleton Mill - Sway 01590 682 219 
  Thatched House - Brockenhurst 01590 623 090 
  Le Poussin - Lyndhurst 02380 282 944 
  Three Lions - Stuckton nr Fordingbridge 01425 652 489 
      
There are others in the guidebooks which we have not had the opportunity to try yet.
For Simple Meals - several local pubs have been recommended eg Oak at Bank or Three Tuns at Bransgore - they should be booked in advance for Fridays and Saturdays; and in Burley, the Manor House Restaurant is recommended (but changed management in 2004)

Pubs
  Oak Inn - Bank Our favourite; good beer, nice walk from Woods Corner to Lyndhurst road - about 4 1/2 miles.
  Three Tuns - Bransgore Another favourite; restaurant quality food at reasonable prices. About 5 miles away.
  Queens Head - Burley can get very full of trippers
  Burley Inn - Burley popular with some visitors
  White Buck - Burley rather ordinary; large portions; good for children
  Red Shoot Inn - Linwoodrecommended by visitors; a long walk
  High Corner Inn - Linwood Linwood is quite a distance by foot or bike.
  Royal Oak - Fritham excellent beer; limited food; over 10 miles by bike
     
There are others in the 'Pub Walks' and other such guides.
When you visit please add your own comments in our visitors' book as it helps if you share with our other guests your best and most exciting discoveries such as restaurants, pubs and great sights to see. It also helps us to keep improving what we offer.