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May 15, 2025
Ringwood to Petersfield: Heading back towards London


Today’s drive: only about an hour

We had the option of staying in the New Forest for three nights, but we settled for two. Instead, we have decided to take our time heading back east to London. There are two reasons:

  1. Driving on British roads continues to be stressful
  2. The process of returning our rental car and making our way to the London suburbs is likely to take most of a day, so the closer we are to start with, the better

Our drive from Ringwood to Petersfield continued to be challenging. While we now have GPS, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes we don’t get a signal. Sometimes the signal drops. Sometimes Google Maps says we are at a location nowhere near where we actually are, and Russell has to revert to the road atlas.

After we left Ringwood, we made one more stop in the New Forest to visit the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. While we had a very nice walk, we didn’t see any deer. We did see lots of Douglas Fir and Redwood trees, which we have a lot of back home.


Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary


We didn’t see any deer, but we saw lots of Douglas Fir and Redwood trees

We decided to spend tonight at a location halfway between Ringwood and London. By basically opening a road atlas and pointing, we settled on Petersfield, about 15 miles north of Portsmouth. This market town is known mainly for its ancient burial mounds.

We arrived early, so we stopped in town to visit Petersfield Heath. This is a 69-acre park with a 22-acre pond. We ate a picnic lunch while walking around the pond. The park features several barrows (burial mounds) that are estimated to be 4,000-5,000 years old.


Petersfield Heath


We walked around a lovely 22-acre pond, teeming with birds


Somebody thinks Gail has food for them. She doesn’t.


We chatted with some of the local fishermen. They camp here overnight to fish. They can catch 20-lb carp more than 30 years old. They photograph the fish and then release them back into the pond.


A map showing the locations of 29 ancient burial mounds


5,000 years ago, ancient humans buried their dead with food and drink for the afterlife


Exploring the barrows

We made a one-night reservation at a bed & breakfast called Mary’s Cottage. When we arrived, we were surprised to see that it looks like a converted outbuilding and is right next to a highly-trafficked road. (We originally thought we had arrived at the wrong place. We finally found a sign that had fallen and was lying face down in the grass.)

Our room is cozy and well insulated, but we can still hear traffic going by. We settled in early for the evening. We want to get everything packed into our suitcases; so when we drop the car off tomorrow, we can proceed directly to the train or bus as needed. Dinner tonight will be some food we picked up at Tesco’s market, followed by a couple of episodes of “Andor” on TV.


Mary’s Cottage is the black building to the left of the main house. We had no idea we were there, until Russell found a sign that had fallen over in the grass.


The cottage is right next to a busy road. Fortunately, it is well insulated, and traffic noise was much quieter once we had all the doors closed.


Our room for the night


Russell updates the worldtrippers website


Gail’s dinner tonight

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