Author Archives: newforestcommoner

About newforestcommoner

Keeping the history, ecology and cultural traditions of the New Forest alive through practice of 'commoning'. Sharing information about #NewForest & #commoning.

New Forest: the truth about the ‘wild’ ponies.

Posted on November 8, 2015 by newforestcommoner

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 | Comments Off

New Forest: tales of the unexpected

Posted on November 1, 2015 by newforestcommoner

As most people know, All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween celebrations have their origins in a festival for the dead that involved rituals to remember and pay respects to dearly departed loved ones, saints or martyrs. These rituals included observances such … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest | Tagged All Hallows, Beaulieu Abbey, free traders, ghost, graves, Halloween, highwayman, Holmesley Enclosure, New forest, occult, smuggler, spectre, supernatural, tales of the unexpected, undead, zombies | Comments Off

New Forest: racing the cows

Posted on October 25, 2015 by newforestcommoner

Being a commoner is never dull. My commoning friends not only share their adventures with me but also, on occasion, provide me with opportunities to have a few of my own! I was visiting a friend and fellow commoner recently … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest cattle, New Forest Commoner | Tagged Commoner, cows, galloping, New forest, ponies, racing | Comments Off

New Forest: the model township of 1709

Posted on October 18, 2015 by newforestcommoner

In the summer of 1709 boats packed with refugees began to arrive in England. These ‘Poor Palatines’, as they became known, were the first of over 10,000 Germans to arrive between May and November of that year. Displaced by war, … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest | Tagged 1709, Attorney, Black Death, colony, Court of Claims, cultivation, Daniel Defoe, Foreign and Protestants Naturalization Act 1708, German, Government, Great Plague, husbandry, immigrant crisis, Lyndhurst, model township, naturalisation, New forest, Poor Palatines, protestant, Rhine, shilling, Solicitor General, township, xenophobia | Comments Off

The blind man who saved the New Forest.

Posted on October 11, 2015 by newforestcommoner

In the market square of Salisbury stands the statue of Henry Fawcett. Ask most people passing by who he was or what he did to be memorialised in this way and they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. But … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest | Tagged 1871 Act, 1877 Act, blind, commoners, Commons Preservation Society, dissaforestation, Forestry Commission, Hansard, Henry Fawcett, John Stuart Mill, New forest, Octavia Hill, Office of Woods, Open Spaces Society, Parliament, post office, public park, Salisbury, Victorian, Welfare State, William Wordsworth | Comments Off

New Forest: winter is coming

Posted on September 27, 2015 by newforestcommoner

The warm weather of late (September 2015) has been a welcome accompaniment as I perform the last of the autumn harvesting. Most of the vegetables from the raised beds have been picked and preserved ready for use over the winter. The … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift | Tagged blackberries, bylaws, cobnut, commoning, drift, elderberries, glut, good condition, harvest, largesse, Lucifer, New forest, Old Michaelmas, rosehips, round-up, sloes, squirrels, sweet chestnut, winter | Comments Off

New Forest: colt pixeys, elf shot and hag stones.

Posted on September 21, 2015 by newforestcommoner

I recently visited the house of a fellow commoner and noticed that outside the front door dangling from a cord was a collection of flint stones. Each stone had a hole in it through which the cord was threaded. Upon … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs | Tagged Anglo Saxon, Bald's Leech Book, colt pixey, elf shot, elves, Fairies, fairy, hag stone, holey stone, Laurence, Mary Dore, New forest, ponies, Puck, sprites, witchcraft, witches | Comments Off

New Forest: poachers, smugglers and amorous donkeys!

Posted on September 14, 2015 by newforestcommoner

During a trip to the New Forest recently I happened to pass through a village where a cricket match was taking place. All the players were dressed in white and the pitch was a manicured village green that was surrounded … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony | Tagged Agister, amorous, bandits, Boldre, burglars, cattle, civilised, courtship, cricket, donkeys, East Boldre, immoral, J W Gunning, jack, jenny, John R Wise, lawlessness, New forest, pony, smugglers, stallion, thieves, vagabonds, Verderers, vicar, William Gilpin | Comments Off

New Forest: pannage season is for the pigs!

Posted on September 7, 2015 by newforestcommoner

Here piggy, piggy! Pannage season is here! (14 September 2015). Just as the first sight of a swallow in the spring signals the start of summer, so too the sight of pigs loose in the New Forest heralds the beginning … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, Pannage season | Tagged acorns, autumn, Beech, cattle, colic, Common of Mast, Forestry Commission, New forest, oaks, Pannage, pannage season, piglets, pigs, poisonous, ponies, seed harvest, toxic, Verderers | Comments Off

New Forest: autumn is here and the drifts are underway

Posted on August 31, 2015 by newforestcommoner

Autumn has arrived. The heathland, woods and lawns wear a pale blanket of mist in the early mornings and the heathland is mantled in purple heather. The blackberries shine like jewels in the hedgerows and great quantities of sloes decorate … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs, New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift | Tagged Agister, Commoner, drift, galloping, New Forest pony, pound, round-up, traditional, Verderers of the New Forest, working forest | Comments Off