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.
Tag Archives: Commoner
Christmas on the New Forest
With Christmas fast approaching I have been thinking about some of the New Forest traditions and folklore connected to the festive season. The idea was sparked during a recent visit to check my stock, when I saw a man harvesting … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Boxing Day, Christian, Christmas, Commoner, Culture, Evergreen, festival, heathen, holly, ivy, mistletoe, New forest, pagan, point to point, Red Squirrel, Salisbury Journal, Sciurus vulgaris, squirrel hunt, yew
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New Forest Stallion Areas 2019
Each year, licensed New Forest stallions are released onto the Open Forest to run with the free-roaming mares and sire the next generation of New Forest pony. The stallions are carefully selected by the Verderer’s of the New Forest, the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest Stallion, Uncategorized
Tagged 2019, area, breeding, Commoner, foal, mare, New forest, season, stallion
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New Year and good health!
Shortly after the New Year begins, it seems that we are bombarded with advertising on television, social media, in magazines and via the Internet for holidays in the sun or sure-fire ways of getting fit or losing weight. It always … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged Commoner, dogs, fitness, Folk cures, good health, green gym, Healing plants, health, Herb-lore, Herbs, medicine, natural remedies, New forest, New Year, ponies
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New Forest: good fences make good neighbours.
‘Good fences make good neighbours’ is an oft-quoted phrase that could have been coined with the New Forest and its free-roaming animals in mind. Whilst the New Forest is referred to as ‘the largest tract of unenclosed land in southern … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, Pannage season
Tagged boundary, cattle, Common of Mast, commonable, Commoner, fencing, free-roaming, good fences make good neighbours, Lane Creepers, New forest, Pannage, perambulation, pig, piglets, ponies, unenclosed, Verderers, wild
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New Forest: autumn drifts in
A sure sign of autumn in the commoner’s calendar is the commencement of the pony drifts that take place each year. The drifts are round-ups that are conducted by the Agisters and commoners with the aim of collecting together as … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift
Tagged Agister, autumn, Commoner, community, district, drift, New forest, ponies, pony, pound, round-up, Tradition, Verderers
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New Forest: warm welcomes and creature comforts
I went to visit a friend of mine recently for a long overdue catch up over a mug of coffee. This particular friend, a lady with a widespread knowledge of the New Forest, comes from a long established commoning family … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged Aga, axe, caffè latte, Calf, Commoner, creature comfort, dairy, faggots, fire, foal, heat, logs, New forest, puppy, range, smoke, tractor, trailer, welcome, woodstove
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New Forest: autumn activity, tradition and festival
Autumn is always a busy season for farmer, smallholder and commoner alike. It is also a time of ritual, tradition, and festival that reminds us of our connection to the natural or, indeed, supernatural world. Michaelmas, which signals the end … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs, Pannage season
Tagged autumn, cereal, Christian, Christmas, Commoner, custom, dam, deer, drift, Equinox, famine, farmer, feast, festival, foal, fortune, gods, Halloween, harvest, Harvest Festival, hay, mare, Michaelmas, moon, natural, New forest, October, pagan, Pannage, pig, pony, pork, produce, round-up, season, September, smallholder, spirits, spring, straw, supernatural, Tradition, winter
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New Forest: ponies and pigs can be friends
Autumn is definitely here. Pannage season is upon us and the annual pony drifts are currently underway*. During the drifts the semi-feral ponies and foals are rounded up for inspection, released back onto the Forest or taken away to be … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift, Pannage season
Tagged Agister, commonable, Commoner, equine, familiar, fear, flip out, frightened, horse, livestock, New forest, Pannage, peril, piggy, pigs, pony, porcine, smell, swine, terrified, welfare
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New Forest: ‘modern Vandalism’ in the C19th
In 1871 George Briscoe Eyre, the owner of the Bramshaw (or Warren’s) Estate, wrote that’ although a nation of tourists, the English are strangely apt to overlook the claims of their own country upon their attention and its exceptional variety … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged Beech, biodiversity, Bradshaw, Briscoe Eyre, C19th, Commissioners, Common Rights, Commoner, Crown, English, National Park, nature, New forest, New Forest Act 1877, nineteenth, Oak, plantation, scotch pine, surveyor, tourists, trees, woods
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New Forest: natural connections
In the last few weeks it has been my absolute pleasure and privilege to be invited into the homes of several long-established commoning families and spend time in their company. Congregating in the kitchen seems to be the standard practice, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged adults, ancient, animals, children, close-knit, common, Commoner, community, conserve, education, generation, information, insects, inter-generational, landscape, livestock, neighbourhood, neighbourhoods, New forest, non-human, pastoral, plants, pony, preserve, resident, residents, traditional, trees
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