AN area where steam trains used to puff their way across the New Forest is now becoming a popular beauty spot.
Forestry Commission workers have been restoring the old Silver Sands Bridge over the disused track which once carried rail traffic on its route from Brockenhurst to Ringwood.
The track is used by Forestry Commission and Commoners' vehicles, as well as walkers and horse riders and the bridge is also used by the commoners as a corral when they are rounding up the ponies.
It is now being restored as an excellent place for people to stop and look at the view and the wildlife.
Commission spokeswoman Helen Wood explained that the bridge, built during the 1840s, was last repaired in 1943.
She added: "We are now adding two huge ten-metre-long 1.25-tonne oak abutments and the timber side walls will make it a safer pound for livestock."
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