Blashford

Blashford
Spinnaker Sailing Club on Blashford Lake.
Blashford Location within Hampshire
OS grid reference	SU1495606840
District	New Forest
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RINGWOOD
Postcode district	BH24
Dialling code	01425
Police	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Fire	Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	New Forest West
List of places UK England Hampshire 50°51′39″N 1°47′20″W / 50.860877°N 1.788874°W / 50.860877; -1.788874

Blashford is a small hamlet of approx. 65 dwellings situated close to the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Ringwood, which lies approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south from the village. It is in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley.

In the late 1900s the area was subject to a series of gravel extractions and became a landscape of interconnecting open lakes and wet meadows. The area has recovered spectacularly since the days of gravel extraction and become a haven for all sorts of wildlife, including waterfowl, bats, otters and moths.

Blashford is home to the Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve.^[1] The 490 acres (200 ha) wildlife reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust in partnership with the New Forest District Council and landowners Wessex Water and Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water. Blashford Lakes is an internationally important site for thousands of wildfowl. Its importance is recognised by its SSSI, Ramsar, SPA (Special Protection Area) and SINC (Site of Importance for Nature Conservation) protection status. Several other parts of Blashford also have this status, including open lakes and the River Avon and associated flood plain. Linking these sites is an area of wetland known locally as Blashford Wet Meadows.^[2]