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: wildlife
New Forest: the heritage of the 1960s
In 1966 the Financial Times newspaper published an article about a map of the New Forest that mapping agency – Ordnance Survey – was planning to produce. This map would be different from any previous style of tourist map because … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged 1960s, 1970s, camping, car, caravan, cyclist, Forestry Commission, heath, lilac, map, New forest, Ordnance Survey, purple, riding, tourist, visitor, walker, wildlife
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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: every day is a school day
The Londoners came to visit again this weekend. These are family members who live in our nation’s capital and, every now and then, when their busy social or work schedules allow, will leave the hectic pace of city-life, traffic jams, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged animals, botanist, chamomile, children, classroom, couch, day, entomologist, fescue, haunt, hay, learning, livestock, London, meadow, New forest, ornithologist, pimpernel, pollution, school, shade, sorrel, Timothy, traffic, wildflower, wildlife
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New Forest: commoning generations
While visitors to the New Forest, and those lucky enough to reside here, undoubtably appreciate its magnificent scenery, free roaming livestock, and exceptional wildlife, not many would consider the significance to the landscape of the unbroken chain of Forest ancestry … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged ancestors, ancestry, commoning, families, family, generation, generations, heritage, landscape, livestock, New forest, Purkis, Rufus, Saxon, scenery, symbiotic, wildlife, William I, William II, Winchester, Ytene
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New Forest: close encounter of a furred kind!
One of the best things about living in the countryside has got to be the interaction one can have with wildlife – in all its forms. As I write this piece (February 2017), I am sat in my kitchen where … Continue reading
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Tagged close encounter, Common Shrew, furred kind, garden, green waste, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Mammal Society, New forest, picture-postcard, Sorex araneus, thatched cottage, village, wildlife
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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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New Forest: cows, co-operation and community
The Christmas-to-New-Year holiday period is a great time for catching up with friends and family and for spending quality time in their company. There is generally lots of feasting and merry-making to be done, which is often accompanied by generous … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Aberdeen Angus, Calf, cattle, Christmas, co-operation, commoning, community, Cow, cows, environment, farming, free-roaming, herd, Mary Christmas, matriarch, nature, New forest, New Year, rural, seasons, smallholding, urban, wildlife
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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: 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
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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: 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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