Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The New Forest


The New Forest is a bit of a misnomer as this royal forest was created in 1079 by William I.
It was set up as an area for royal deer hunting.  It's now a National Park. 


The New Forest National Park is in Southern England close to Southampton.
Last weekend we decided to get away for a B&B night and explore a bit.  


We arrived on Saturday and started with lunch at a local pub, The New Forest Inn.
This was the best lunch!
Ham, salad, cheese sticks, baguette, pickled onions and the most incredible parsnip soup.
We then headed to Lyndhurst to check in to the B&B.  (It was just okay, so I won't recommend it.)


Then we hopped on to an open top bus tour to get an overview of the area.  At 120 square miles, this is the largest area of unenclosed pastureland in the UK.  It's made up of green lawn, heathland and forest areas.  


We were lucky enough to be there when the Heather was in bloom.  I've talked about the colors of England being blue and green, but now we have to add purple to the mix.  


And it smells heavenly!  I want to bottle the smell of the forest and the heath.  


People who live in the area have common rights to allow their livestock to roam the area.  There are over 4,000 ponies loose in the park.  By the way, common rights is where the term "commoner" comes from.  


There are about 2,500 cows in the area.  She was talking to us.


There are a couple of hundred donkeys in the mix also. You will often see them in the little towns.  


There was only a 20% chance of rain when we left, but it did rain all day on Sunday.  It's only a few hours from London, so we know we will go back.
We just spent most of our time driving around.  


There was only a 20% chance of rain, so I didn't take my wellies.  But, of course it rained on Sunday.
I'm going to start just keeping them in the car trunk (boot).  


You aren't allowed to feed the animals, but when we stopped to take a photo he came right over to the car.
Then he wouldn't move.  TE was a little nervous about the new car, but the pony just snuffled the windshield a bit.




There are several villages in the park to explore with fun shopping and good food. 



Burley was one of the cutest.
It's famous for a white witch who lived there in the 1950's so there are a lot of little witchy shops.  



There are tons of pubs to stop for a bite to eat.
I didn't get a picture, but we had another terrific meal at The White Hart.  


 And wouldn't you just LOVE to live in this little cottage!?!

We also drove to the South end of the New Forest to take a look at the coastline.  


You can see the Isle of Wight across the water.  It's also on our list of places to visit.  


These beach sheds are so cute.  Families flock here during the summer and set up camp for the day in these little boxes. School starts this week and it was raining so the place was empty. 


We also used our English Heritage cards to pop into the Calshot Castle.
We only had 12 minutes to explore because they were closing for lunch. 


It's not really a castle as much as a bunker.  It was built by Henry VIII in the 1500's as a part of the coastal defense chain.  It was use up until the 1950's to protect the coast. 




It was interesting, but 12 minutes turned out to be plenty of time.  


We loved our quick trip to The New Forest and will definitely be going back.
I can't wait to see it in Winter and Spring.  

Mom & Mr. B arrive tomorrow morning and we have a packed itinerary.
I'll try to pop in for a few quick posts but I will probably be pretty scarce in blogland for the next two weeks.
But, then I'll be back with a ton of new pictures and posts featuring my adorable Momma.
We are even squeezing in a trip to Paris!

See you soon!

xoxo
Selena


21 comments:

  1. I've wanted to go to the New Forest ever since I read Edward Rutherford's book on it! It's gorgeous. I've decided that heather definitely likes a wet, cool summer- this fall's is the most vivid I've seen during our three years here! It's GORGEOUS!
    Burley is cute- it looks almost fake!
    Oh, and we keep our wellies in the car, along with a towel for the dogs- it's a must!!

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    1. Would you recommend the book? It was so pretty! I can't wait to go back!

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  2. Did you make it to the Rufus Stone?

    http://www.new-forest-national-park.com/rufus-stone.html

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    1. Dave, we didn't make it to the Rufus Stone. But we will definitely be going back again. I want to see the forest in all of the seasons. It was just beautiful.

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  3. Great photos. We're actually going camping in the New Forest this weekend! Fortunately sun is in the forecast :)

    And I'd love to invite you to 'Blogger's Tea' in London on Oct 2nd. Details on my blog.

    Have fun with your mom!

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    1. I can't wait for the Blogger's Tea!!! It's going to be great to meet everyone!!

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  4. fabulous ! Never been there and also only just in London so that will have to go on my to do list also ! Greta pics btw ! xx

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    1. Thanks, Chrissi. You should definitely add it to the list.

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  5. What a lovely post! For some reason I thought New Forest was in the west of England, I had no idea it was so close. I'd love to go exploring in the forest and the national park. I love close encounters with wildlife too. My favourite photo is your second photo of the beach huts - what fabulous composition.

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  6. I just found your blog via "Post of the Month Club".
    I love this post! The pictures are so lovely....those cottages are just too cute!
    Enjoy what's left of the weekend,
    Sarah xo

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    1. Hi, Sarah
      Thanks for stopping by. Don't you love the POTMC? It's such a great way to find some lovely blogs. So glad you stopped by!!

      Selena

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  7. You had me at parsnip soup!

    Popping in from PoTMC

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    1. Hi, Sophie
      So glad you popped in!! That soup was good. I need to find the recipe!!

      Selena

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  8. What gorgeous pictures! I'm an America also living in England :)

    I've never heard of Burley before, but it looks gorgeous! x

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  9. I am thrilled to know that places this poetic still exist. It's straight out of Wuthering Heights, isn't it?

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    1. It's like being in a movie set sometimes. Thanks so much for reading & commenting!!

      xoxo
      Selena

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  10. I LOVE this part of the world. We visited a number of times when we lived in the UK. Thank you so much for reviving such gorgeous memories.

    Very glad I popped over from Jane's linky. x

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  11. Oh Selena, what a stunning post. Thanks so much for linking it to the POTMC. It's a visual treat. I learnt so much. Hard to pick my favourite but it could be those brightly hued beach houses. Just sublime. J x

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  12. Just stumbled on these photos, they're absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for portraying our lovely area in such a wonderful light! I hope you enjoyed yourself :)

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  13. Oh those little cottages.. Love to visit the place. Looks so inviting and comfortable to travel in there. :)

    http://www.alveoland.com.ph/Philippine-properties

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Thanks for commenting. I love to hear from you!