The New Forest is wonderfully quiet. Huge expanses of trees and tracks with few roads and even fewer villages, but it has not always been the case. We could easily have walked past it without noticing, but on our walk from Fritham to Blissford a passing hiker took the time to show us a massive concrete arrow lying in the heather at the side of the path. This was a neglected remnant of a role the New Forest played in World War II.
Turn the clock back to 1940 and the Air Ministry was looking for a suitable site for a temporary bomb testing range and settled on a 5000 acre site they called the Ashley Ranges. The site was used by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment for the testing weapons. As a result over the next 5 years this quiet corner saw more explosives dropped on it or fired at it than anywhere in England outside of a major city. This included the largest bomb ever dropped on British soil.
Naturally they were firing at targets. There was a ship target, wall targets, submarine targets, even a fake railway line, all deep in the heart of the New Forest. You really wouldn’t know to look at it now. Most of the craters were filled in at the end of the war, although a few remain as heathland ponds - and wildlife rules once again. The massive arrow is one of the few structures that remain. Both the arrow and a target in the valley below could be illuminated by a diesel generator to simulate night bombing runs.
So what was the link with Barnes Wallis and the bouncing bomb? Although the bouncing bomb was designed for use on reservoirs to destroy the dam walls, it was indeed tested in the New Forest, alongside the Upkeep bomb (designed to roll up beaches and destroy coastal defences) and the Highball (designed to bounce in the ocean and hit shipping). The really big bangs came from Tallboy and Grandslam, so-called earthquake bombs designed to blow up structures even if they were below ground. That’s a lot of bang.
Ali
Cultured Monday Nights
The CYHA Culture Club which was founded during the first Coronavirus lockdown in 2020 has continued and flourished during 2021, and into this year. Meeting every other Monday, we have alternated between a book and "not a book".
The 12 books have ranged from Moliere's The Miser written in 1668, to We Are All Birds of Uganda written in 2021, via classics like Animal Farm, and influential works like the Citadel credited with inspiring the NHS.
We've also watched Dracula in ballet form, surprisingly good after thinking "give it half an hour", several TV programmes, and listened to a very current podcast on Ghislaine Maxwell. Last September, we got together away from Zoom for a very sunny visit to the Henry Moore Foundation sculpture park at Much Hadham - you may have seen Robin's pose in the photo competition.
2022 has already branched out to include the more hands-on, and potentially messy, activity of painting in the style of Bob Ross - you may have seen our handiwork on the CYHA Facebook page.
Jim
A Walk on the Wet Side
After a surprisingly sunny trip to the New Forest it seemed unlikely that our luck would hold for our Sunday walk to Goldhanger. Yet there we were. Ten of us in Daisy Meadow car park heading along the sea wall to Goldhanger. The sun started peeping out from the haze pretty much as soon as we started walking, so it was bright even in the chilly breeze. The bonus of a walk along the sea wall is that it’s dry underfoot – something we welcomed after ankle deep mud in the New Forest – so it was an easy stroll in pleasant weather, with charming views of the estuary, Norsea and Osea islands. We had a pub at Goldhanger and a tea room on the way back. So where was the wet bit?
For lunch we picnicked down on the beach. Our boots dug into the sand while we sat on the breakwater. Dave commented on how on the Broomway we were warned that the tide could come in faster than man could run. Then nature did a demo.
Ali