Animals First in the New Forest Village of Brockenhurst, Brockenhurst, England

Despite the persistent drizzle I could feel the magic of the forest outside pulling me outside and away from my cosy hotel room. I was staying at the Balmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst, a village in England’s famous New Forest. Ancient grazing rights are still upheld here and ponies, donkeys, sheep, cattle and deer graze freely throughout the forest. At the front of my hotel is a cricket ground and sheltering under the trees surrounding it I could see two small ponies. Shrugging on a waterproof jacket I set off to explore.

As it was too wet to go tramping through the woods at the side of my hotel I set off towards the village centre. The Lymington River flows past the Balmer Lawn Hotel and I paused on the bridge to watch the shallow water lapping around a shingle island. No doubt this is the place the locals called Brockenhurst Beach. I could imagine it would be popular in hot weather but in the winter it is abandoned to the animals and hardy walkers. When I returned later that evening I had the good fortune to glimpse a herd of deer taking refuge amongst the trees. It is no wonder William the Conqueror set aside the forest for hunting nine hundred years ago. He called it his Nova Foresta or New Forest. Centuries of grazing by deer, ponies and cattle have shaped the present landscape that is now preserved as the New Forest National Park.  ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).