This weekend has been sort of relaxing ... at least, we intended for it to be relaxing; its not our fault if it didn't turn out to be that way. Yesterday we decided we were in the mood for a nature walk of sorts ... something the '3' of us could enjoy together. We had gone online the night before and found a huge forest/parkland area called the New Forest not too far from here. This area was established as William the Conqueror's new hunting forest in 1079, it is now said that not much has changed since that time. As a result of this, cattle, horses, ponies and donkeys are allowed to graze freely throughout the forest and its many villages - the animals have the right of way on the streets!
So, we took off after lunch to Lyndhurst which is where the visitor information center is for the park, we wanted to find some trail maps. Incidentally, Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' is buried in the churchyard in Lyndhurst. We ended up finding a trail ... and we walked for what seemed like hours until we came out on a highway and had to retrace our steps back to where we started! It was like a 4 hour walk! We were all very tired.
Today was the day that the church people get together after church for a picnic or outdoor activity .. and guess where they had decided to go? The New Forest .... except today we went to a different area called Nomansland - that's actually the village name. I had hoped to see more free-grazing animals yesterday but didn't see that many, it was more than made up for today!
For those who know me well, you know I'm a sucker for animals, so you can imagine how many pictures I took! I had a hard time trying to narrow it down to a few to put in this entry ... I will be posting more on flickr though. After we had eaten our picnic lunch, with about 15 people from church, a trio of donkeys made their way over to check out our lunch site ... so funny! They sniffed around and licked up any crumbs they could find. It was quite unique and something we won't soon forget.
The New Forest is a must-do activity for visitors, and not just for the animals, but the miles of surrounding forest and nature trails is great for a walk or bike ride. And, of course, there are lots of pubs around, even in 'Nomansland', to help quench that thirst : )
Team PM
2 comments:
I'm curious, who cleans up after all those wandering animals and are you allowed to bring your dog walking there as well?
It looks funny to see them all just in the middle of everyone!
Sounds like you are enjoying your rest day.
Greetings from home,
Mom
I'm not sure if anyone cleans up after them, and they certainly do leave their 'mark' - but its not too bad. Alot of people were saying that if they do it on your lawn, you just scoop it up for your garden - there's a big joke about gardens being nicer in that area! You can bring your dog, though they suggest you keep it on a lead while around the main grazing areas - once in the forested paths there aren't too many animals, they mostly stick to the grassy bits.
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