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: Verderers
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: 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: medieval dog maiming
I was interested to learn recently that the New Forest has more visitors per square kilometre than any other national park (7.5 visits/km2), and that dog walking was the most common reason for visiting the New Forest throughout the year.[1] … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged canine, Charta de Foresta, claws, Commoners Charter, dogs, expedited, Forest, hunting, lamed, law, lawed, Lymington, Lyndhurst, Magna Carta, maimed, mastiff, Museum, New forest, paws, poaching, terrier, toes, Verderers, walking, William Conqueror
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New Forest: Look, but don’t touch the animals
This week I had a long Twitter conversation with someone concerned about the amount of people feeding and petting the donkeys at Hatchet Pond, near Beaulieu. In one incident a family went even further, and were trying to force a … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Animal Road Traffic Accidents, New Forest pony
Tagged animal food, bite, cars, colic, cows, danger, don't touch, donkeys, fatal, food, hand feeding, Hatchet Pond, human food, injury, kick, look, New forest, no-no, picnic, pigs, poison, ponies, prohibited, roads, sheep, toxic, traffic, treat, Verderers, verge, waterfowl
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New Forest: Drivers who are verging on the ridiculous!
Without a doubt the New Forest is a wonderful place to visit. Tourists coming to the area are often awestruck at the sight of ponies, cattle, sheep and pigs wandering freely within the perambulation. They marvel at the landscape that, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged animals, appreciation, camping, car parks, caravan, cars, cattle, cyclists, ditches, dog-walkers, Don’t Treat Our Verges Like Dirt!, donkeys, Forestry Commission, grass, grazing, horse-riders, National Park Authority, New forest, pigs, ponies, ramblers, ridiculous, vehicles, Verderers, verge, verging, wildlife
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