New Forest Summer

What a glorious trip!!! We have just returned from the New Forest and although mushrooms were thin on the ground we explored numerous parts of the forest from Pipers Wait to Vinny Ridge, Pig Bush and Puttles Bridge. The weather was kind and Sophie has a blast running circles through the forest and jumping in to every stream she could find. 

For me, the trip trip offered much nostalgia remembering childhood days where as a family we spent many days in the New Forest exploring areas such as Blackwater, Lyndhurst, Beaulieu and Ashurst. The lovely wild ponies are still in abundance grazing happily ignoring the tourists snapping photos after photos of them....and the donkeys were outrageously social in Nomansland where they literally had their heads in our car trying to get a snack from Andy.

The highlight was our stay at Kentford Farm which keeps race horses. We stayed in a small cottage within acres of private land surrounded by fields and lakes and race horses. Ironically, this was where we found the most mushrooms, including chanterelles which kept Andy happy.

The horses were stunning and I loved our early evening walks past the paddock where they would come over to say hello. On our last evening we sat by the lake at the edge of the garden, overlooking the paddocks drinking champagne and were treated to three horses having a playful race with each other running up and down the fields. It was a joy to watch. I think we will be booking to stay here again next year of not before.