CUCKOO HILL, GORLEY

You will love this walk! We will be tracing the footsteps of Heywood Sumner who built a house here called Cuckoo Hill in 1903.

He then wrote a book about Gorley and the local inhabitants who eked a living on the edges of the New Forest. He was one of the original members of the Arts and Crafts Movement and a friend of William Morris. He illustrated his book with some wonderful watercolours. The amazing thing is that after 100 years, the landscapes have hardly changed and still recognisable.

So our walk will take us across grassy commons, down forest tracks, along the ridge with some lovely views across fields to the Avon Valley to Cranbourne Heath in the distance. There is also an interesting WW2 listening tower and bunker to explore on the heather covered heathland. We will encounter ponies, cottages and maybe some deer. This walk has a bit of up and down but generally good tracks and footpaths.