Hazelborough wood (Dadford Road)

As is the case with Hazelborough wood in Silverstone village and other woods such as Bucknell and Whistley, Hazelborough wood on the Dadford road was part of the greater Whittlewood forest and over time, these woods have fragmented and spilt up with advances in farming.
The core of the old forest is between Silverstone, Syresham, Abthorpe, Wicken and Pottesbury. Remnants exist over the county border in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes with outliers including Whistley wood west of Syresham. All of these woods are noted for the bluebells but the Dadford road side is nowhere near as spectacular as the other half of the wood across the main A43.Other ancient woodland indicators species are Yellow Rattles and Lesser Celandine.
It is unclear whether Whittlewood was already a royal hunting ground before the Norman conquest around the 1080s but it was certainly named by the Anglo Saxons . The core settlement , Whittlebury village takes its name from the same person, Witela who may have been a Saxon nobleman. The Doomsday book makes no reference to the wood but was documented at being four leagues long and three leagues wide which works out at 12000 acres.
The arbitrary exercise of King Johns authority in his exploitation of the forest led to resentment form aristocratic landowners whose freedom of action was curtailed by forest law . Owners were prohibited form hunting beasts and letting herds wander over the woods, and the King was ruthless imposing fines. This led to the Baronial rebellion leading to the signing of the Magna Carta but certain clauses that were seen as "evil customs" were taken out of the Magna carta and enshrined in a separate document known as the Charter of the Forest in 1217.
Accessing the wood couldn't be easier. Approach from the Silverstone circuit side along the Dadford road. Keep on past the last roundabout past the club corner grandstand and follow the road where you will see a small carpark on the right just before Silverstone golf club. Please do not block the gate here as the forestry commission are often in and out of the wood.
From the carpark, the best option is to head up the hard prepared track that heads straight up into the wood. You will notice that there is a totally different feel to this wood compared to other local woods as there are a lot more conifers and more of a commercial feel about it. As you walk up the track you will come to a V in the road and you can follow it either way as it is a loop back whichever way you go. The beauty of this walk is that it is 100% mud free. During wet spells, especially in the winter , the walk is popular but only at normal peak times and you will find that most walkers are friendly enough. If you go right at the V, follow the road to a sharp 90degree bend where you will see an abandoned WW2 Nissen hut. Cut up the track and keep following which joins back onto the track on the opposite side of the V where you can walk back to the carpark.
There is running stream through the centre of the wood which is great for summer walks and this is accessible off the main track. You can`t really get lost here as most off piste tracks come back to the main track. At a couple of locations, there are some fenced off sections where pheasants are bred, and , I'm not 100% they are still there but it is something to be aware of. It is highly unlikely you will come across them but if you Viz starts a point, there is a fair chance that they have spotted a bit of wildlife. I know where both are and haven't ventured too far in as I have a vision of the film Deliverance and having some hillbillies do me over.
The wood has a slightly odd feel about it in some areas, there are a few abandoned wartime buildings where you can feel Goosebumps on your arms which is a little surreal. I'm not entirely sure if its haunted and have never researched this.
Another option from the carpark is to follow a narrow track directly through the woods flowing a line parallel to the main track. This runs alongside the golf course and you are likely to find a golf ball or two here if you are lucky. The most I've found is nine in five days. Walk up this track to a point where the path sort of disappears and turn right. This in turn, joins the main track again where you can turn right onto it to head back to the carpark.
All in all, a good solid walk that you can make one to two hours easily with minimal mud and is good in the summer with a running stream.