Took the family down to the New Forset for a picnic yesterday, and the traffic on the M27 and the traffic through Lyndhurst reached new heights of horrendousness.
I know Lyndhust has always been bad, but yesterday it took us 45 mins just to do the 3 miles from the M27 to the otskirts of the town (A337), not to mention the time it took us to cover the bit of the M27 from the M3.
Has anyone else experienced this torture lately ?
Unfortunately, it is difficult to get most places down there unless you go thro Lyndhurst, unless you go miles out of your way and then get caught on the approaches to Bournemouth.
I will certainly think twice about ever visiting this area again, even though it is not far.
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Roly
If you knew how prevalent [and nasty] Lyme Disease was; you'd never go near the place ever again!
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I have to put the dog in plastic bags down there, it comes back covered in more ticks than a multiple choice GSE paper....
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I went to Beaulieu a few weeks ago & the traffic was fine around the Lyndhurst area, as well as the M27 interchange with the M3 considering it was a Saturday afternoon.
But previously when i go down on a Sunday it's pretty chaotic, maybe because everyone is trying to go home at the sametime.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I normally turn off to the west of Southampton, and hurtle down the short stretch of motorway/dual-carriageway (sign posted to the docks I think), then turn right at the end and head towards Brockenhurst or Beaulieu. It is usually not too bad, though I guess it might get busy on a Bank Holiday.
There is an alternative route which is basically to go through the back roads. Carry on past the Lyndhurst turn off (where the M27 becomes a dual carriage way) and then take a left turn later on. It might be to Emery Down or it might be the Bolderwood ornamental drive. I cannot remember and you will have to check on a map as some roads go under the M27 with no junction. Most people use the main routes to Lyndhurst especially the one way system, and as long as you avoid those you should be okay. I've never had congestion on the back roads, even when the Lyndhurst one way system is chock a block.
I used to go down to South Devon a lot, including Bank Holidays, and I usually found that if you got up early, you missed the traffic. Most people are lazy, especially if they have children.
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M27 - M271 - 4 miles'ish to the end of it then turn West at roundabout onto the A35 and to the queue-less side of Lyndhurst - although frustrating at the moment at there is a temporary 40 speed limit while they complete a cycle track - and on to wherever you want to go.
You can also follow signs to Beaulieu, coming off the junction before Cadnam and heading for Fawley initially. After Beaulieu you can then head to Lymington, Brokenhurst or even back to Lyndhurst.
Carrying on on the M27 to Emery Down is okay unless the volume of traffic is high. If so you then get caught where the lanes reduce at the end of the M. Emery Down takes you to the New Milton/Rhinefield side of Lyndhurst.
If you continue on past Emery Down, you can turn off at Picket Post and go via Burley.
If you decide to risk coming off at Cadnam and find a queue you can wriggle lanes through via Minstead turn off....
If the traffic on the M3/M27 is horrendous (usually due to an accident) I have been known to come off the M3 at Eastleigh and drive across Southampton - which is fine as long as it is not the boat show week or rush hour!
With two dogs walked on the Forest most days we have yet (tempting fate here) to pick up a tick BUT did nearly lose our older dog to an adder bite. It is worth carrying Piriton anywhere where there are adders.
If it all proves too stressful, there is an excellent hostelry with excellent food in Bank - even welcomes the dogs!
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you gave the dog Piriton? Does it work?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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TVM, it was what the vet recommended for next time! You should be aware of what has happened - dog will yelp, limp, you should be able to find the puncture marks fairly easily, well, according to the textbook, anyway. Give the piriton then get to vet. Same goes for humans too.
We nearly lost him at the time as it was late on a Sunday evening and we did not realise what had happened - he had yelped then been fine - couldn't find a thorn in paw or whatever. On the way home his breathing became laboured and he was shaking so straight to the Vet. Hospital in Hythe. Anti-venom kills more dogs than it cures, so he had various injections of painkillers and antihistamine, then it was a 'wait and see'. We photographed the various stages for the vet to use when lecturing as the swelling from the paw up was quite spectacular. Without making you wince too much - it would have been better for him if he had been castrated! Took about a month until he was recovered and several months before he could 'lift a leg' - fortunately he has sired a litter since too - thank goodness for insurance.
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I shall stick the piriton in the car first aid kit then. I have a combined human/canine first aid kit
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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It's a Bank Holiday weekend in a National Park, near the coast - what did you expect?
Sorry to rub it in but the New Forest was delightful on the Thursday before the weekend - we had a peaceful stroll in the sunshine around Burley - and travelling back to the Midlands on the Friday morning was ok, all the queues going the other way particularly M40 southbound at the A34 junction.
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Well, as I work in Farnborough & live near Christchurch I'm depressingly familiar with most of these routes. A couple of other alternatives:-
If the bottom end of the M3 is looking iffy I sometimes come off at junction 11, head round the bottom of Winchester, take the A3090 through Romsey to Cadnam, then decide whether to brave the Lyndhurst road or not.
If the M27 westbound isn't too bad, but the drag up the hill onto the A31 is looking bad, I turn off the M27 south down the Totton bypass at M27 J2, then keep heading south until I get to the Dibden Purlieu roundabout. Heading right at the roundabout takes you into Bealieu, then left at the T junction on the far side of Bealieu takes you to Lymington via Hatchet pond, right takes you over towards Lyndhurst. This was my favourite route into the forest in the days before I lived here.
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I can second piriton for dogs, had some from the vet and he confirmed the human stuff is exactly the same. Dosage similar too IIRC, 5mg.
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if all you grockles stayed away from the bmth area..our traffic situation wouldnt be as bad
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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well, talk about biting the hand that feeds .... these places thrive on tourism dont they?
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then the tourists should stop moaning.. as in the posts above...go back and read all of them again..
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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I though Bournemouth was populated by old tourists who didn't bother going back where they came from.
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full of young people having loads of beer...
full of old people who never went home
full of foreign people looking for work
full of foreign people sponging and living 20 to a house
etc etc
full of polish immgrants
full of russians and other estern bloc country people
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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Please tell me in a coherent, well-structured sentence what on god's earth that rant is about. The structure and lack of grammar suggests that the people you're complaining about are probably far better educated than you....
full of speeling and grammer eerors?!
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I normally turn off to the west of Southampton and hurtle down the short stretch of motorway/dual-carriageway (sign posted to the docks I think) then turn right at the end and head towards Brockenhurst or Beaulieu. It is usually not too bad though I guess it might get busy on a Bank Holiday. There is an alternative route which is basically to go through the back roads. Carry on past the Lyndhurst turn off (where the M27 becomes a dual carriage way) and then take a left turn later on. It might be to Emery Down or it might be the Bolderwood ornamental drive.
Oi! Stop giving the game away. How do think us locals manage to avoid the the hordes during the summer?
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read the whole topic.. i wasnt ranting...and the only spelling error as .. eastern
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and immigrants
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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Storme, I too should have put in an : ) perhaps, as it was said somewhat TIC! I didn't mean the spelling so much as the lack of punctuation and capital letters! : ) (again).
Incidentally, question for grammar sticklers on here: does a bracket closing act as punctuation or do you need the full stop as in mine above? Never been sure and people are avoiding my question, probably as it is so dull!!!
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Incidentally question for grammar sticklers on here: does a bracket closing act as punctuation or do you need the full stop as in mine above?
The rules of Grammar require the full stop - and imo looks neater ;)
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M3 to M27 is always a horror on Friday after 3 ish (tis my route home every weekday), all the smoke lot coming down to their holi homes for the weekend, also Sunday afternoon/evenings doing the reverse. Saturdays on a bank hol, also often bad.
There are plenty of ways of gettin to the forest avoiding Lyndhurst though, try M27 Jct 2, down the A326 to Applemore roundabout (6-7 miles) and turn right, bingo, the forest.
Cheers
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Drink Lager, Talk Piffle,
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Hi Roly.We often travel down that way to visit family in Brockenhurst.I would recommend, that next time you go slightly further on(next turning off after the lyndhurst turn) and get off at the Emery down turn off(just past the Total petrol station) . This will take you straight towards the other side of Lyndhurst where you can visit the Rhinefield.
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