The ancient English playground you must discover this summer
Fancy a summer mini-break without leaving British shores? The New Forest offers fine food, cycle routes and boutique hotels, says Antonia Windsor.
Isn’t the New Forest just wild ponies?
Roll up, roll up! The New Forest and Hampshire County show is about to begin (well, it’s actually Tuesday to Thursday, newforestshow.co.uk), proving there is indeed much more to the New Forest than just ponies. Cattle lovers, equine enthusiasts, fishing aficionados and hunting honchos should flock (along with the sheep, of course) to Brockenhurst showground to celebrate country pursuits in all their colourful variety.
The three-day event in the heart of the national park has been running since 1921 and is rated among the top 10 agricultural shows in the country. Join local farmers, livestock exhibitors and gardeners to find out all you need to know about how to live like a country squire. Bring your most desirable duck or your celebrated cake to be in with a chance of a prize. And if you are raising the next generation to appreciate bucolic pastimes, then you’ll be pleased to hear that children go free.
How do I roll up?
You might choose to wind your way into the New Forest with a caravan in tow or a boot full of camping gear. Or perhaps you’d prefer to fold your Brompton on to the train, which delivers you to Brockenhurst station in an hour and 20 minutes from central London. However, if you really want to immerse yourself you should pop into town in a vintage MG or Ford Y. In fact, there are so many classic cars pootling around that you might be concerned that the nearby Beaulieu Motor Museum (beaulieu.co.uk; £19.50 adult, £9.50 child, under-fives free) has a theft problem (imagine men in tweed making a 20mph getaway in a Thirties Rolls-Royce Phantom).
But I don’t wear tweed
Don’t worry. Not everyone drawn here is landed gentry. City types make the pilgrimage to SenSpa (senspa.co.uk) to get prodded by Thai masseuses until their urban uptightness has been released and they can melt into the hydrotherapy pools. But watch where you place your Jimmy Choos, because horses and donkeys roam freely (with the wildlife and the cars, so don’t expect to be going anywhere fast).
I thought everyone went to Lyndhurst?
Yes, Lyndhurst is more of a central hub of smart shops, but it’s also chocka with traffic and tourists in the summer, while Brockenhurst is a more relaxed alternative with a very handy train station for getting around (Lymington is just eight minutes away and Southampton a mere 13 minutes). Hire a bike from Cyclexperience (newforestcyclehire.co.uk; £18.50 a day) just by the station and traffic can be ticked off your list of concerns: the forest has more off-road cycle paths than anywhere else in the UK.
By population, Brockenhurst is the largest village in the New Forest, yet the centre of the village is storybook-sized. On Brookley Road (Brockenhurst’s high street) you’ll find a butcher, a baker, no candlestick maker, but a grocer and a florist. Sip some Earl Grey from a Wedgewood cup in Rosie Lea tea room (rosielea.co.uk) and browse local art at Ytene Gallery (ytenegallery.co.uk). Brockenhurst also boasts the idyllic creek at Balmer Lawn where children poke around in the river with a stick while parents bask on the beach.
My children need more than a river and a stick
The New Forest is a giant playground for adults and children alike. If you want more organised activities, try New Forest Activities (newforestactivities.co.uk) who will guide you down the Beaulieu river in a canoe or teach you to shoot a bow an arrow. The motor museum has an exhilarating display of vehicles, from the earliest Victorian carriages to the sleekest F1 racing cars. Little children will love Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park (paultonspark.co.uk; £29.25, children under 3ft 3in/one metre go free), where two new rides opened earlier this year. Older children and adults will favour the Lost Kingdom, also at Paultons and included in the entry, where the roller coasters are more thrilling.
So just how new is this forest?
Despite its name, the New Forest (thenewforest.co.uk) is actually fairly ancient and was named by William the Conqueror more than 900 years ago when he adopted this area as his new hunting ground. It is the smallest national park in the UK at around 220 sq miles, but has one of the largest tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the south east of England. The 5,000 free-roaming ponies are the most famous residents and in the autumn, during a time known as pannage, you will spot hundreds of pigs that have been released into the forest to eat fallen acorns, which are poisonous to the ponies.
I won’t be eating acorns, will I?
Human foraging in the forest is discouraged with a “look, don’t pick” policy in place to stop the commercial collection of mushrooms. Instead, choose between delicious French bistro food at Le Blaireau (careysmanor.com/le_blaireau) – think fish soup, boeuf Bourguignon, moules-frites – or contemporary fine dining at Beresfords (balmerlawnhotel.com) – sea bream with white asparagus and truffle or sticky beef short rib with mascarpone mash. Both restaurants are attached to hotels, either of which make a good spot to lay your head. Balmer Lawn Hotel is a grand old red-brick pile behind a lawn where men in white play cricket most weekends. It’s had a motley past and has hosted both George V and Winston Churchill. Now it’s a boutique hotel with an indoor and outdoor pool and spa. If you’d rather opt for self-catering, Careys Manor has a house you can rent in the grounds. Pittefaux cottage (careysmanor.com/self_catering_cottage) has its own private gardens, but you can still enjoy access to Careys Manor’s impressive leisure facilities.
Reading list
Children of the New Forest (1847) by Captain Marryat, The White Company (1891) by Arthur Conan Doyle and The Magic Cottage (1987) by horror writer James Herbert are all set in the New Forest.
Watch list
The New Forest has been the location for films and television shows including The Infiltrator (2016) starring Bryan Cranston, in which the Beaulieu river doubles as Miami, and (below) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).
