Ashley
Walk, in the New Forest, is the site of a former World War II
weapons centre which tested bouncing and fragmentation bombs and a
mighty "earthquake" bomb, known as The Grand Slam. It was the
largest bomb exploded in Britain and left a crater 130 feet across
and 30 feet deep.
Ashley
Walk was a secret place covering 4000 acres surrounded by a wire
fence. Bombing targets included 200 slit trenches containing
dummies; submarine pens that cost £250,000 to build; two
massive wall targets 40 feet high, which resembled tower blocks and
a "ship" with steel plates 40 feet long and 20 feet high, which was
fired on with rockets. Over 400 craters were visible when the range
closed in 1946 and most are still traceable
today.
The
cache is a 1-litre food container hidden at Leaden Hall where the
Number 2 Wall target was located.
If you
view this area on Google Earth, the base for the wall target can be
seen as a circle with a small square attached (also clearly seen on
an OS map). If you look carefully concentric rings can be seen
around the target area. These were bulldozed into the topsoil to
give a rough guide of impact distances. They are 500 feet apart
centred on No.2 target.
This cache is placed under
the agreement between
the GAGB and Forestry Commission in the New
Forest.