A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE OLD STATION TEA ROOMS, HOLMSLEY. INCLUDING A GUIDED WALK ALONG THE "OLD ROAD"

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Hampshire County Council has said "special provision will be made" on March 27 to make it easier for customers. The road closures are due to come to an end on April 8.

Castleman’s Corkscrew: a walk along an old New Forest railway

June 1st 1847 saw the opening of the station at Holmsley. It was located where the line met the A35, the main route from Christchurch to Southampton, and referred to (until 1894) as Christchurch Road.The growing popularity of the cars in the 1950’s meant a serious assessment was made of the network, culminating in the now infamous Beeching Report in 1963. For the longer walk turn right along a narrow earth path through trees and after 150 metres ignore a path off to the left.

The Old Station Tearooms - Visit the New Forest

In 1899 Robert Louis Stephenson, who was a local resident, cast Holmsley Station as ‘Browndean’ the fictional station in his novel ‘The Wrong Box’. In the late 1800’s the eldest son of Queen Victoria, Prince Edward, frequently disembarked at Holmsley with his then mistress, Lillie Langtry, enroute to their exclusive residence in Bournemouth. The station’s finest hour and lasting memories will undoubtedly be during WWII, when it played an instrumental part of the troop and freight deployment to the aerodrome at Holmsley South. In May 1944, with preparations for the D-day landings, Eisenhower and senior government officials were frequently seen.

Rosie Lea House, near Lymington

There’s nothing more quintessentially English than to partake in a delicious cream tea. What’s more, the best way to celebrate a summer staycation in the New Forest is to devour one outdoors in a beautiful garden surrounded by birdsong. In 1907, Holmsley was the arrival point of Kaiser Willhein of Germany and his cabinet, to attend a conference with Major Stuart Wortley at Highcliffe Castle.