New Forest Northern Commons

The New Forest Northern Commons are a string of National Trust heaths, among them Rockford, Ibsley, Hale Purlieu, Hightown and Bramshaw, where plateaux of heather and gorse drop into small valleys of bogs and gravel streams. Commoners still turn out ponies, donkeys, cattle, pigs and sheep under centuries-old rights, overseen by the Verderers' Court, a thirteenth-century assembly that still meets. The heaths are a stronghold for ground-nesting birds, rare reptiles and insects. On Ibsley Common stands the Huff Duff, an octagonal Second World War direction-finding station, reached on a 4.3-mile Trust walk from Rockford that also passes medieval rabbit warrens; a 3-mile figure of eight crosses the streams of Hale Purlieu. Reviewers single out the free-roaming ponies and donkeys, the sand hill and the ford at Rockford for paddling. Dogs are welcome, on a lead around livestock and in the March to July nesting season. There are no toilets, and tracks can be wet.