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: trees
New Forest: kitchen/office turns into bird-hide
I’ve been spending a lot of time working from home recently. I’ve turned a corner of the kitchen into an impromptu office and the end of the kitchen table has become my desk. This is a perfect spot and, because … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna
Tagged avian, bird watching, birds, blackbird, blue tit, bullfinch, Buzzard, cavity, chaffinch, coal tit, dove, feeder, garden, goldfinch, great tit, greater spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, greenfinch, jay, long tailed tit, magpie, mistle thrush, nest box, nesting, New forest, nuthatch, owl, peanut, pheasant, pied wagtail, pigeon, robin, siskin, squirrel, starling, sunflower, tawny, trees, wildlife, wren
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New Forest: pannage, a piggy priority
One of the most significant periods in the New Forest calendar starts in mid-to-late September, when the trees begin to cast their fruit, in the form of acorns, beech-mast and chestnuts. Known as ‘pannage’ it is a time when pigs … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs, Pannage season
Tagged Acorn, autumn, bacon, Beech, boar, butcher, chestnut, flavour, Forest, Forestry Commission, hogs, horn, law, Mast, New forest, Pannage, piggy, pigs, priority, swine, swineherd, trees, Verderers
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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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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: 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: litter – natural and otherwise
This week I’ve had the subject of litter on my mind. Looking at the amazing colours of the New Forest’s autumn foliage made me think of the leaf-litter that covers the forest floor. It carpets the ground with a profusion … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged autumn, bedding, biodegradable, biomolecule, Chinese lanterns, chlorophyll, Forest, habitat, incendiaries, litter, New forest, refuse, rubbish, rural, sky lanterns, trees, wildlife, winter
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New Forest: stallion-silly-season
I was pleased to see that British astronaut, Major Tim Peake, had posted images of the south coast from the International Space Station, circling 404km (251miles) above the Earth. It clearly showed the area of the New Forest and the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged bluebells, foals, fox cubs, mares, New forest, silly season, stallions, trees
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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 benefits of nature
Like most commoners I work full-time in a job that is not related in any way to the New Forest. Recently I’ve been travelling more and more to London for various meetings and events. Witnessing the hectic pace of city … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged Commoner, development, divorce, health, Industrial Revolution, London, nature, New forest, plants, trees, wellbeing, wildlife
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