St Leonards and St Ives to Talbot Woods
From Horton Road or the Ringwood Road end of St Ives, follow Ringwood Road south-east to the A348, run through Ferndown to Kinson and take Wimborne Road down to Winton, turning west into Talbot Woods at the end. It is a twenty-minute journey that avoids the A31 roundabouts if you time it away from the school run.
The two villages are quiet and leafy, and the people who come to us from them are largely retired couples who walk Avon Heath Country Park most days, horse riders from the yards along Horton Road, and younger families who have moved out from Ferndown. Riding and gardening injuries are a recurring theme, along with the hips and knees that heathland walking asks a lot of.
Weekday mornings suit most St Leonards patients, when the A348 is clear and the clinic is quiet, though anyone commuting to Bournemouth uses the Tuesday and Thursday evenings instead. Parking in the courtyard is free, which is the norm in the villages but a rarity this close to the town.
Patients who prefer not to drive can take the Ringwood to Bournemouth bus, which runs along Wimborne Road and stops a short walk from Alma Road.