The Gallery
Learning about and practising commoning on the New Forest.
In medieval times a forest meant an area preserved for royal hunting, and not a wooded area as it does today.
The Agisiter ensures welfare standards of the free-roaming animals are maintained.
The ‘architects’ of the New Forest.
The New Forest landscape supports many species of plants, insects, birds and mammals. It should be valued as a reserve for nature.
One of many gatherings where Commoners can exchange news, information and knowledge.
Pannage season is part of the ancient commoning rights and a popular tradition.
Traditional management practices, particularly commoning, have conserved the ecological diversity of the Forest.
Category Archives: New Forest flora & fauna
New Forest: city-dwellers set free to roam
This weekend I was busy with visitors. In the pre-Christmas round of get-togethers, relatives arrived from London for a few days in the country. My visitors and their children were amazed, when looking out of the kitchen windows, to see … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged animals, children, city dweller, hay, Labradors, London, New forest, ponies, rural, sheep, squirrels, trees, urban
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New Forest: fallow deer and the rut
The autumn months in the New Forest herald the breeding activity of fallow deer (Dama dama). The rutting season begins in September and peaks in late October. As the foliage changes colour into the russets, oranges and yellows of late … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged buck, Dama dame, deer, doe, Fallow, New forest, rut, rutting
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Ragwort: friend or foe?
I’ve recently begun the task of checking for and clearing any ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) from my hay meadow and the paddocks that my field-kept ponies will be using during the summer. This is one of those essential jobs in pasture management … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged biennial, Bugle, cattle, cirrhosis, Defa, hay, horse, liver, paddock, pasture, perennial, Plantlike, poison, ponies, Ragwort, Ragwort Act 2003, Senecio jacobaea, silage, toxic, Weeds Act 1959, Wildlife and Countryside Link
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New Forest: timber stealers and plunderers
The New Forest is often described as a mosaic of habitats, which include heathland, valley mires and ancient pasture woodland. Within these varied environments grow all manner of plant life, from the tiny bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa) up to the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged 1849, bog orchid, Bow Bearer, Cuffnalls, Deputy Warden, Deputy Woodward, Forester, Hammarbya paludosa, High Steward, Lady Poore, Lord Duncan, Lord Warden, New forest, plunder, Purveyor of the Navy, Ranger, Regarder, sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Surveyor General, sylvan, theft, timber stealing, Under Forester, Verderer, Woodward
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New Forest: self medication and creature comforts
The free-roaming ponies, cows, donkeys and, during pannage, pigs on the New Forest are usually able to take care of themselves and do not require the constant attention required by their intensively farmed or field-kept counterparts. Even the process of giving … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest cattle, New Forest flora & fauna, New Forest pony
Tagged adder, Agister, animals, cattle, commoners, commoning, cows, donkeys, Forestry Commission, healthy, heifer, injured, lame, New forest, pharmacy, pigs, ponies, self medication, sick, snake bite, unwell, venom, Verderer, welfare standards
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New Forest: lapwings reward the early riser
I’m really enjoying my walks on the New Forest at the moment. I start very early in the morning, when there are few people about, and often arrive just in time to see the sun appearing over the horizon. As … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged bewitched, bird, breeding season, dotterel, habitat, lapwing, New forest, peewit, plover, superstition, Vanellus vanellus, wetland, wildlife, Wuthering Heights
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New Forest: Easter and the coming of spring.
The Easter holidays have a big impact on the New Forest. They traditionally mark the beginning of springtime and the time of year that many visitor attractions open their doors to welcome guests at the start of the season. Tourism … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged animals, attractions, breeding season, circle of life, conservation, Easter, ecology, environment, nature, New forest, petrichor, spring, tourism, visitors, wildlife
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New Forest: squirrel-pie anyone?
Like it or not, the history of the New Forest is firmly interconnected with the practice of hunting. It was for this purpose that William I established the landscape as a Royal Forest, in the eleventh century. While most people associate … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged Deputy Surveyor, Eat them to beat them, grey squirrel, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver, Lyndhurst Petty Sessions, New forest, Pascal Aussignac, Red Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus vulgaris, squirrel pie, squirrel sausage, squirrel stew, wild meat
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New Forest: the great mouse invasion 1814
Whilst moving bales of hay from the barn recently I noticed in one of them an imprinted circular shape that was about the diameter of a coffee mug. In the shallow impression were several empty hazelnut shells. Each of the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged Apodemus sylvaticus, great mouse invasion, James Cook, Lord Glenbervie, mice, mouse, Muscardinus avellanarius, New forest, Sir Joseph Banks, swarm
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New Forest ponies: search and find or hide and seek?
The New Forest has taken on a completely different look and feel since the onset of late autumn. Many of the birds that were regularly encountered over the summer months have, like the tourists, migrated elsewhere. The atmosphere is tranquil … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna, New Forest pony, Uncategorized
Tagged Commoner, Cow, deer, Fallow, fawn, find, foal, genes, New forest, pony, search, trees
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