Photo One of Hampshire's most beautiful woodland areas, where the poet Edward Thomas and his wife Helen lived before his death in the First World War. The nearest town is Petersfield, but roads to Alton and to Liss form part of the road boundary of the area, to which the name Ashford Chase is conveniently given, though in fact it is made up of a series of hills running east from Stoner to Wheatham.
Footpaths cross the area from almost every direction.
The rise and fall of the landscape and its silhouette on the skyline is made even more impressive by the fact that most of the area is covered in trees, many of them magnificent beeches. In the late 1950's there were proposals to cut down the trees. Many of the most beautiful trees on either side of the road to Stoner were saved, as well as many trees in other parts of the area, especially those on the skyline. Soon after, in 1964, other woodlands, The Warren and Happersnapper Hanger to the north were also acquired. The whole area of the East Hampshire Hangers, part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been managed most carefully, and new beech trees have been planted.