A long weekend in the New Forest

For the last Bank Holiday until Christmas, we headed an hour and a half South West of London to The New Forest, a huge National Park that was a former hunting round of William the Conqueror.

Contrary to its name, there isn't too much forest to be found, the area is made of up large pastures and open spaces, interspersed with patches of woodland. The New Forest is made up of Common Land, land that is owned collectively or by one person, but where other people also have rights to graze their cattle and livestock.

When the New Forest was created, it came under strict laws, put into place to protect the natural wildlife, such as deer, boar and ponies and all the surrounding vegetation. This meant that there was always of meat for the Royal Family, and also provided a huge area for hunting. 

It also meant that no-one can interfere with the wildlife, meaning ponies had, and still have, free reign over the Forest. They are everywhere, though you're not allowed to pat them as otherwise they will become too used to humans and start being naughty, like approaching humans for food, which can make them sick.

We left London on Friday afternoon and found ourselves in Brockenhurst, in the heart of the New Forest by the early evening.

We saw several ponies in the short walk from the train station to our Bed and Breakfast, just wandering the streets or grazing on the side of the road.

We were staying at Daisybank Cottage Bed & Breakfast, a place we had read about before and which always gets amazing reviews on Tripadvisor.

Our room was huge, with a King sized bed, a window seat overlooking the garden, and a bathroom the size of our flat in London, complete with a deep clawfoot tub that I was looking forward to trying out.

We were also welcomed with some yummy homemade cupcakes upon arrival, and wasted no time gobbling those up!

The rest of the evening was spent unpacking and relaxing before heading out for a delicious pub dinner at The Filly Inn down the road.

The next morning we woke up early, keen to get an early start exploring the rest of the Forest. We decided to take the New Forest Open Top Bus Tour, which runs from June to September. With three routes, all of which you can hop on and off and change to whichever route you feel like during the day.

We hopped on and headed straight up top and took off towards the seaside town of Lymington. We realised straight away why this tour does not run all year round, it was absolutely freezing and extremely windy sitting on the top deck, possible due to all the open fields around us, providing no shelter from the wind.

We arrived in Lymington mid morning, and spent some time exploring the local market before grabbing a couple of sausage rolls for lunch. Compared to sleepy Brockenhurst, which was super quiet, Lymington was a bustling port town, with views across to the Isle of Wight, which you can get the car ferry across to from the harbour.

The town itself is full of lovely old buildings and cobbled streets, with a lot painted blue and white to fit in with the seaside theme.

We were planning on hopping back on the bus to the next stop of Keyhaven/Mildford on Sea, however we had been told we could walk between Lymington and Keyhaven along the mudflats and salt marshes, so decided to walk the approximate five miles and enjoy some fresh sea air and the views across to the Isle of Wight.

After a few slightly wrong turns and ending up down a country lane instead of beside the seaside, we found the right way and off we went. The surroundings were amazing, the Keyhaven Nature Reserve has been named an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it wasn't hard to see why. The area is made up of mudflats and big lagoons as well as the salt marshes, that are home to a large variety of birds.

The wind did pick up the closer we got to Keyhaven, and we found ourselves walking a lot faster as we approached the small town.

We stopped in Keyhaven for a Cider and some crisps, before hopping back on the bus and heading to our next stop, Burley.

Burley is a pretty little town, and has a history full of Witches, Dragons and Smuggling.

The Queen's Head pub, was notorious for smugglers and highwaymen. A secret cellar was discovered beneath the floor, full of guns and coins believed to be a hiding place for the smugglers.

Burley is also known for being the home of a suspected Dragons Lair, just outside the village. There is a legend that tells of a Dragon that used to terrorise the villagers in demand of milk until it was eventually slain. 

Burley is also the home of New Forest Cider, where Cider is made fresh and sold around the New Forest. We stopped in the little shop and picked up some cider, chutney and jam. We were able to taste several different types of Cider, before picking our favourite to be put into a jug for us to take home.

Across from the Cider Shop, we discovered a farm where a Sow had recently given birth to a litter of piglets, we spent a long time visiting with these little piggies before they fell asleep and we continued on our way.

Our next stop was the Burley Fudge shop where we stocked up on various varieties of fudge, such as Maple & Walnut, Peanut Butter and Honeycomb. The fudge was so delicious, we ate a good chunk of it before we even got back on the bus!

After exploring some of the Witches shops in town, we hopped back on the bus to Brockenhurst. We had an early dinner, and headed home to spend some time relaxing in the bath after our day of exploring. After that there wasn't much we could do except roll into bed, ready for the next day.