The New Forest National Park (don’t disturb wild ponies)
The New Forest is one of England’s National Parks, located in Hampshire and Dorset. It contains some of England’s oldest trees (some over 1000 years old) and large expanses of open heath, bog and grassland.
It’s one of the few places in England that’s home to all six native reptiles, and is also home to 75% of the world’s species of dragonflies.
Out walking? Follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. Keep dogs away from steep banks, mushrooms (and other toxic plants/trees) and on leads during nesting season (and near barnyard friends and wild ponies).
At the coast, keep away from nesting birds and never walk on sand dunes. Learn how to keep dogs safe by the seaside (check beach bans before travel).
Don’t light fires, stoves or barbecues (wild camping is not allowed).
The New Forest ponies (do not disturb)
The New Forest Ponies are cared for by commoners (who benefit from right to graze animals). The New Forest Verderers employ five Agisters who ensure commoners abide byelaws, and oversee grazing ponies, livestock, cattle, donkeys, pigs and sheep (but not deer or other wild animals).
Do not touch or feed semi-wild New Forest ponies. Don’t let dogs approach or chase ponies or any other animals. Never use flash photography (use a zoom lens if taking photos).
Sick and injured animals can be reported to the Verderer and Agisters website. This page includes numbers to call and details of penalties, for failing to report incidents.
Ponies wander onto lanes and streets, so drivers must slow down and pay attention. Local signs warn visitors to watch out for ponies, especially at dawn and dusk, when they often cross busy roads.
Road Traffic Accidents involving ponies, cattle, donkeys, pigs and sheep must always be reported immediately to the Police on 999.
Burley (a village with an interesting history)
Burley is a pretty village in the heart of the New Forest, you would never know that it had such a dramatic and unusual history. In the 1950s, it was home to Sybil Leek, a ‘white witch’ (presumably like the one in the Wizard of Oz’), who swore she used her power to do good, and the village even had an annual fairy festival.
Frequently seen walking through the village with a black cloak on the way to her antique shop, she was once challenged to ‘call up the wind’ on live TV and apparently did it. That’s not to say there is no power in these spectacles, but many of us prefer to just stay in church and say our prayers, it sounds far safer!
Close friends with actress Vivien Leigh, there were even rumours that Winston Churchill used her to provide ‘fake horoscopes’ to confuse the Germans (Hitler was very interested in the occult). Her reputation however made some locals uneasy, and when the landlord refused to renew her lease due to being a witch, she emigrated to the USA instead, rather than give up her broomstick.
The village had a more recent jolly resident. Can you recognise who it is above? It’s actor Buster Merryfield (when he was a bank manager), before he took up one of TV’s best-loved roles as Uncle Albert in the hit TV comedy Only Fools and Horses.
He only started acting age 57 and unlike his rum-loving character, in real life he never drank or smoked. He married his wife after a week-long whirlwind romance, and they remained together for 57 years (they are buried together in a nearby grave).
People thought that no-one could replace the wonderful Leonard Pearce (above as a young actor, who played ‘granddad’ and died of a sudden heart attack) but he ended up just as popular.
Pearce toured Germany as a young actor. And (not knowing what would happen), he innocently shook hands backstage with Adolf Hitler. He later told co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst that he regretted not grabbing a bodyguard’s pistol and killing him.
Despite his ‘idiot’ character, Leonard for a classically-trained actor who had worked for the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.
