Organised by Deadwater Valley Trust ranger Jenny Clarke, it is hoped that the Autumn Fungi Foray will become an annual event.
The Hogmoor Inclosure is an 135-acre Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace, which needed to be created to provide green recreation space for the 8,000 or so new residents expected to live in the town when up to 3,350 new homes are built by 2035.
The Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company is developing the largest site in the town at the former Prince Philip Barracks, where a new town centre is set to be delivered along with housing and facilities.
Commenting on the large number of people who attended the fungi hunt, Mr Carew (Cons, Whitehill Walldown), who has been eating fungi since he was eight, said: “It was wonderful to have so many families join us for an exciting afternoon hunting through the undergrowth for wild fungi.
“I was fortunate enough to get taught when I was young and I have been hooked ever since. It is great to be able to pass it (what he has learned) on to other people. We had a number of children there with their families and they have very sharp eyes. I asked them to hunt for very safe inedible, but unusual, specimens and they found them. These included jelly antlers, candle-snuff fungus and ear-pick fungus - a scarce and often overlooked toadstool that only grows on pine cones.”
“I was so impressed that I agreed to provide prizes of fungi-identification books, out of my own pocket, for our three winners,” added Mr Carew, who is also a district and county councillor.
A variety of species was found on the walk, on Sunday, October 1, including: edible russula pulchella, yellow-swamp russula, birch bolete, penny buns, slippery jack, puffball, cauliflower fungus, sulphur tuft, razor strop fungi, brown buttercap, and gem-studded earthball (scleroderma), saffron milk cap (lactarius) and ink cap, which was used to make ink for quill pens.
Not so pleasant was finding the poisonous, hallucinogenic fly agaric (amanita muscaria) - the classic red or orange toadstool with white spots - which was used in the mediaeval period as a fly trap.
Mr Carew added: “There are so many varieties in the UK - most are not edible, but there are many species that are. The key is to be able to identify the safe ones and avoid anything poisonous.
“Although there have only been a few cases of serious toadstool poisoning in the UK over recent decades, there are some species like the destroying angel and the death cap that can kill.
“Other poisonous species include panther cap, which is like a brown fly agaric, and brown roll rim which is fudge coloured and has a rolled margin. Fortunately, we did not encounter these but they do grow locally.
“If eating wild fungi, my advice is to be sure you have correctly identified it. If you are in anyway unsure leave it.”
Mushrooms and toadstools are just the fruiting bodies (reproductive organs) of the fungi which live as mycelium - often microscopic root-like structures in wood and beneath the soil.
“Sometimes these are obvious as with the black boot straps or honey fungus - which is deadly to trees but great to eat and green wood cup - that colours dead birch wood a glorious turquoise colour,” Mr Carew said.
“Remember never kick over a toadstool and if picking it, make sure there are plenty of specimens and that you leave some behind to reproduce, and cut the bottom of the stem rather than pulling it up.”