A few days in The New Forest

It may be known as The New Forest but you can rest assured it's not as new as you'd think.

Created by William the Conqueror in 1079 (just after that little skirmish at Hastings) for the purposes of royal hunts - mainly deer - pastureland, and general one-upmanship, the name changed from Ytene - the plural of Jutes (an early Anglo-Saxon tribe) to 'The New Forest'.

William's sons both died in the forest. Prince Richard (death somewhere between 1069 and 1075) and William Rufus (death 1100, shot through with an arrow) were most likely hunting related accidents, but you never know in those days.

90% of the New Forest is owned by the Crown (Queen Elizabeth II).

We went there for a couple of days because I'd never visited that part of the country and Trev had the opportunity to go on a photography course.

I have always been fascinated that we have wild ponies in this country - I couldn't wrap my head around it because if I lived there as a child, I'd have made friends with all of them (probably best I didn't live there, then).

Trev could have gone on the photography course in Birmingham or London, but as I said, I'd never been to that part of the country.

Trev booked a little B&B and off we went.

A few hours of driving and we arrived in the most picturesque countryside you could wish to visit.

Sat nav is a wonderful invention isn't it? We arrived at the doorstep from the directions yelled at us from the little box in the centre of the dash in the car.

At the gate were three ponies (video won't upload, sorry).

A young woman came out to greet us and told us her mum was out at the moment. She showed us the accommodation and made sure we were good to go.

The annex was beautifully kitted-out. A bedroom at one end, the living area (sofa, TV, dining table for two, wood stove) in the centre and the kitchen and bathroom at the other end. Compact, fully-fitted and just enough room. Above the kitchen and bathroom, on a mezzanine, was another sleeping area, with two single beds.

The host arrived moments after we started getting unpacked and was as attentive as her daughter had been. She told us a few decent eateries in the area (one pub owned by a member of Dire Straits) but we decided to keep to our own company and grab pasta and other goodies from the local supermarket. We took a walk into town first, to see what the local shops had, but it was such a sleepy little place, most had closed or didn't sell what we wanted.

The next morning, we breakfasted with the host and she made far too much for me to eat in one go (Trev polished his off without any trouble). Then Trev went off to his course and I stayed behind in the quaint, tiny, thatched cottage to chat with Tarna (the host). She was so interesting! She's done such a lot of exciting things - worked in television, worked as an organiser for the Badminton Horse Trials and all sorts of stuff, including living in France on a 100 acre plot!

Mistletoe actually growing on a tree! I've never seen this before (in real life).

Little donkey, little donkey... SO sweet!

I saw the tiniest donkey foal standing in the middle of the road so I needed a picture. The mum came and made sure I wasn't doing anything to her baby and once she was assured that I wasn't going to pack it into the car and steal it (I was tempted), she allowed me to take another couple of pictures of it.

The next day we made our way back home. On the last stretch out of the gated park, where the ponies, cows, donkeys and sometimes pigs are allowed to wander freely, we had to stop. A traffic jam was starting to build.

Bulls fighting was the cause of the road block!

(Not these... some others... the fighting ones aren't so blurry).

I'll try to get the video of that up soon (if it's any good).

It's all fun and games where the wildlife are allowed to roam by law.

All pictures are my own, taken on iPhone 5s