RN Survival Course, Seafield Park

[meleagertoo]

Does anyone recall the location in the New Forest where we built our bashas for the 10 day aircrew survival course, and the pond where we spent a delightful night in a leaky liferaft ? Early '80s.

[Mogwi]

Can’t remember take precise location but can remember approaching a tourist in a car park and using the line “Excuse me madam, I am a naval officer, I wonder if you have any stale crusts or out-of-date crisps that I could have?” And raiding a local veg patch for sustenance - and picking the stones off cadis-fly larvae to try to get some protein. Oh, and finding a mackerel in a squirrel trap on the branch of an oak tree!

Heady days!

Mog

[Expatrick]

In the St Leonard's section of the New Forest there is (or was) a large section, fenced off for MoD use - I think, it's many years since we wandered around (the perimeter) there.

[Xmit]

I seem to remember it was called 'King's Hat Enclosure'. My memory isn't what it once was, though!

[meleagertoo]

King's Hat sounds familiar but I thought it was in the SW end of the New Forest, and I certainly don't recall a river nearby or we'd have gone fishing! It was also much more remote from built-up areas than that, or we'd have gone bin-raiding.
Unless memory's failed...

[6Z3]

Ah, spending the night in a pond near Ringwood, swimming out in the morning, drawing your own maps and stretchering a colleague all day en route to King’s Hat Enclosure, happy memories of summer ‘76 where we spent 5 days of numbing boredom building traps and games “of your own design”, recce’ing Harrier landing sites, and yogi-bearing the local caravaners in 8s fashioned into plus fours begging in you best Oxford accent “morning, Royal Naval officer, terribly embarrassing, haven’t eaten since Thursday, don’t suppose I could rummage through your bins?”

[Prawn2king4]

Thought it was the Burley Manor hotel ..........

[Bonkey]

In the St Leonard's section of the New Forest there is (or was) a large section, fenced off for MoD use - I think, it's many years since we wandered around (the perimeter) there.

That's a military vehicle test centre, it was owned by the MoD but is now QinetiQ.