You may remember in part 5 of this series I ended my walk by arriving in an industrial estate! Out on on the main road, and just a few yards on, stands “The Railway Pub and Kitchen”, a sure sign the railway was nearby. In fact the Ringwood station once stood right opposite. Now nothing survives, and the site is just an empty car park! Once the train ran where now is road, in fact the road is called “Castleman Way”.
Over a roundabout and into Bickerley Road, on a few yards more, a handy sign points down a path, and back out into countryside. 17 miles to go!! Wow!
Before too long the path crosses a bridge once obviously part of the railway – impressive for it’s size, as it straddles the wide but shallow Bickerley Millstream. Split off from the River Avon, to power the mill, and then re-joins the main river further south. From the bridge the view is lovely and improved further by a few horses.
A couple of yards after the bridge, the Castleman Trail is crossed by the Avon Valley Path, another long path across the county! The path here is perfectly straight, and an easy follow. It’s not too long before there is another bridge, this time crossing the River Avon proper.
Ohh those textures! Just made for black and white film photography, and dare I say Takumar lenses! In short time there is another smaller bridge, and this soon leads, to another first. An actual car park for users of the trail! I’m back to the car!
Chatter: Pentax Spotmatic SP, with the 50mm and mostly 35mm Takumar’s, on the old movie Ilford FP4 stock, I’m bulk loading my way through. Processed in Ilfosol 3.
S.H.O.U.T. 