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
New Forest: £5000 reward for finding ‘Hit & Run’ drivers
The Open Court sessions at the Verderers’ Court are a great way to learn about the Forest’s management and see one of its ancient institutions in action. Each month (except August and December) the public are welcome to attend and … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest Animal Road Traffic Accidents
Tagged £1000, £5000, accident, Agister, animal, cattle, collision, commonable, Commoner, Commoners Defence Association, court, Cow, death, driver, fatal, free, Hampshire, hit, hit & run, horse, Horse Welfare Trust, incident, injury, New forest, New Forest Pony Breeding & Cattle Society, NFPB&CS, pig, police, pony, reward, roaming, RTA, run, speed, steer, suffer, traffic, vehicle, Verderer, wild, witness
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New Forest: observing the month of deer defence
The commoning calendar holds many significant dates that reflect the seasons, and over time activities have developed that match the time of year. The most important of these are connected to the management of the commonable animals and include the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs
Tagged 1217, 1877, Avon, bridge, Charter of the Forest, Commoner, court, dama dama, deer, defence month, dogs, Eyre, fence month, Fordingbridge, Henry III, John Baptist, July, June, law, Lord of the Manor, Midsummer, New Forest Act, quit rent, Verderer
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New Forest: C19th waste land or allotments
On this day (28th May) in 1870, it was reported in the Hampshire Advertiser that Southampton residents and those in the surrounding neighbourhood, had held a meeting in the Guildhall to discuss enclosing the New Forest for agricultural purposes. [In the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Act, agriculture, commonage, Commoner, commons, cultivate, cultivation, dairy, enclose, enclosure, entail, farming, Government, Guildhall, inheritance, land owner, law, New forest, Pannage, Parliament, pasturage, pauper, poor, population, primogeniture, rich, Southampton, tourist, working man
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New Forest: different views of the same landscape
I have really been enjoying the sepia colours of the frost-covered Forest recently; and came across a passage in a book recently that stuck a chord with me because I felt that it summed up, quite poetically, the seasons on … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged climate, Commoner, Daneshill, drainage, early spring, ecology, environment, Forestry, frost, furze, John Wise, late summer, Lords Commissioners, Mother Nature, New forest, Prior's Acre, Queen Victoria, restoration, soil, Stoney Cross, Treasury, trees, wetlands, woods
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New Forest: signs of the times
As my regular readers will know, the drift season has started. The season runs from August until November and entails rounding up the ponies across the New Forest in a series of drifts that take place in approximately 40 locations. … Continue reading
New Forest: learning, knowing and passing it on.
For me the natural world is a place of wonder and exploration. Being in the New Forest no matter what time of day, what time of year or in what kind of weather is such a fulfilling experience. The sound … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Commoner, countryside, directions, fauna, flora, hire, history, knowing, knowledge, learning, natural history, New forest, passing it on, ponies, Rufus Stone, Satnav, tourism, Victorian, visitor, wildlife, woodfidley
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New Forest: annual colt and stallion inspections
I attended the annual Stallion Inspections at Beaulieu Road last weekend, to watch the selection process for the colts and stallions that will sire future generations of New Forest pony. The weather was forecast for sunny intervals and, when the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged breed, breeding, colt, Commoner, foal, inspection, mare, New forest, NFCDA, NFPB&CS, Open Forest, pony, sire, stallion, stud, Verderer
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New Forest: four pony scheme 1890
In the last decade of the nineteenth century efforts were made to improve the breeding of the New Forest pony to fulfil a ready market for ‘the large class, daily increasing, who use good ponies in light carts instead of … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Arabian, breeding, Commoner, foal, Four Pony Scheme, mare, New forest, New Forest Pony Association, pony, purebred, Queen Victoria, stallion
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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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New Forest: the truth about the ‘wild’ ponies.
Without doubt one of the best things about visiting the New Forest is seeing the ponies that inhabit the heathland, woods and lawns wandering freely about. Although the New Forest ponies are often referred to as ‘wild’ this is not, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony
Tagged Common Rights, Commoner, domestic, horse owner, horse rustler, horse thief, New Forest pony, owned, semi-feral, thieves, truth, wild pony
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