The New Forest

[Old-Man-George]

Originally Posted by monkey

have a look at his website its brilliant with some great photos

BTW, I did previously have a look at Marc's website. Really interesting & informative.

George

[ceb]

Originally Posted by Old-Man-George

Thanks guys,

We're staying in the Woodgreen area, at the North, backing on to the forest. We'll happily walk from there, or drive anywhere further afield. We're also thinking of renting bikes one day (a good site we can rent bikes and leave the car would be appreciated, thanks).
For wildlife, I guess I'm most interested in mammals, but will stop to photograph anything that moves along the way. I'd love to see foxes and badgers, but I appreciate you can't just publicise the sites where they're living. I think the ponies will make a nice photo if they're within a nice wider view.
For landscapes, I really love trees. Interested by the idea of Rhinefield Ornamental Drive - low sun through the trees. That sort of thing. But also any nice view, forest opening, pathway through the trees.

Thanks for your advice.
I appreciate you taking the time to help,

George

Hi George,

I'm also off down there for a week beginning October 14th; it can't come soon enough!

In the Woodgreen area you'll be close to the free-roaming Donkeys. They tend to congregate around a small nursery/farm shop/cafe. Can't remember the name of it, but it's the only one in/around Woodgreen!

Rhinefield Drive is wonderful for autumnal colour.
I tend to go into the forest off the A338 just after Ibsley, opposite the signpost for Ellingham. Follow the road through to High Post and along to the car-park at Bolderwood. Keep straight and you come out at Swan Green on the outskirts of Lyndhurst. Turn right, car-park on left, and you'll go past the deer sanctuary at Bolderwood. Carry on along that road (very narrow) and you'll find a varied selection of trees to photograph later in the day, with the setting sun coming through the trees. This road will come out onto the A35. Left is Lyndhurst, opposite is the Rhinefield Drive along to Brokenhurst, and right is Christchurch.

Another stunning scenic drive is from Dibden Purlieu, near Hythe which overlooks Southampton Water, which is not too far from the Otter & Owl Sanctuary/Wildlife Centre. Take the B3054 from DP, signposted Beaulieu, through to Beaulieu. At the t-junction turn right onto the B3056 and stay on it until Lyndhurst. It's a feel good to be alive drive! And makes you proud to be British!!

Now that all the 'tourists', apart from us (lol), have departed, the deer begin to get a little more adventurous and a little less wary. In the past I've seen them exploring a closed-off car-park at Stoney Cross. Able to get a few shots off them after using the car-park opposite and the cover of bushes and shrubbery.

Close to Stoney Cross is Fritham Woods and Eyeworth Pond. Again, I've seen deer in Fritham, whilst Eyeworth is good for birds, Mandarin ducks in particular.

The pony sales at Beaulieu Road make for a fascinating experience. Noticed there's one on October 20th, if you just happen to get down earlier!!

Further afield, I'd always set aside a few hours at Arne near Wareham.
I usually take the easier drive over; A338 to Bournemouth, continue on to Sandbanks Ferry, over to Studland, onto Corfe and double-back to Arne. Returning to The Greyhound in Corfe for evening refreshments, which are truly scrumptious!
Numerous wildlife walks at Arne plus Sika deer, more often than not, in the car park! It's a gorgeous site.
Be aware though, you need to take your own refreshments. If the squirrels are around, make sure you close your car windows!! Just a friendly warning from someone who didn't realise just how friendly Arne squirrels can be!!

After remembering and writing all this, I can't wait to pack my bag!

Enjoy your break and I look forward to seeing some of your photographic results.

Cheers,
Carol

[Old-Man-George]

Thanks Carol,

More helpful info there. I'll definitely have a look for the donkeys around Woodgreen. Bolderwood & Rhinefield Ornamental Drive's look lovely, and I really hope I'll get some photos there in the low evening sun. We had planned to see Beaulieu too, so i'll take your suggested driving route and feel proud to be British :-) Can't decide yet whether to roam as far as Corfe and Arne. Might play that by ear. I'd love to get some photos from Durdle Door, so perhaps will try and get the three into one day-trip.

I'm also itching to go now, but I have another 3-4 weeks before bag-packing time. Enjoy your holiday, and thanks again for your time.

George

[mbaldw]

Originally Posted by Old-Man-George

BTW, I did previously have a look at Marc's website. Really interesting & informative.

George

Thanks George - very kind of you to say. Many of the photos (especially of the deer) are taken in the Forest and donated by fellow WABbers, who take much better pics than me.

In addition to that already mentioned, Arne is worth a visit if you have the time (although I would say it's a full day trip), as it's probably the best place on the south coast to photograph Sika deer (there are some in the Forest, but they're often more difficult to come across).

Originally Posted by ceb

In the Woodgreen area you'll be close to the free-roaming Donkeys. They tend to congregate around a small nursery/farm shop/cafe. Can't remember the name of it, but it's the only one in/around Woodgreen!

They've just opened a new community centre/farm shop, which is -- I'm told -- very nice and still an attraction for ponies.

You may also want to check out the New Forest Life website, which has some good ideas for places to visit in the Forest.

I hope you both enjoy your visit.
Cheers,
Marc.

[sukie]

If you go into the visitors centre at Lyndhurst they are very helpful and can provide free maps of the forest which show nature reserves,streams,walks etc.Its a wonderful place, you never know what you'll meet along the roads. I've seen ponies,donkeys,pigs,cows,even a prize highland cow or two. Just keep your camera close at hand. I just love it there. Marwell zoo is just up the road as well which is worth a visit, especially the butterfly house. Have a lovely time.

[Old-Man-George]

They've just opened a new community centre/farm shop, which is -- I'm told -- very nice and still an attraction for ponies.

This looks great. Will definitely go there for our supplies, thanks.

You may also want to check out the New Forest Life website, which has some good ideas for places to visit in the Forest.

Thanks again - this website is really good. So much information there, and got some recommended tea rooms and bike-rentals on there too.

If you go into the visitors centre at Lyndhurst they are very helpful and can provide free maps of the forest which show nature reserves,streams,walks etc.

Thanks Sukie. I didn't expect to find much there, but it is obviously worth a look.

Marwell zoo is just up the road as well which is worth a visit, especially the butterfly house

Yes, I'm hoping to visit Marwell one day while I'm in the area, as I've heard that it's quite photography-friendly.

Thanks again,

George

[ceb]

Just came across this on Professional Photographer's website,

Olympics competition

Good thing is, you don't have to be a pro or a photographer!

Might be worth experimenting with the Gold, Silver, Bronze theme though?

Cheers,
Carol

[Old-Man-George]

Ah, thanks Carol. Looks like fun. I'll enter if I get some nice landscapes there.

George

[Old-Man-George]

Hi all,

We had a great time in the New Forest, despite the pretty ropey weather, which made the photography difficult.

Just thought I'd complete this thread by adding a trip report for anyone who finds this useful in the future.

And you can see my photos here: New Forest - a set on Flickr
I'll get some more up in the next couple of weeks.

Day 1:
Drove to Blackwater car park. Walked around Rhinefield Arboretum, and Ornemental Drive. Beautiful places, and wonderful trees.
Stopped at Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary. Saw the fallow deer there, took a nice walk around the back of the deer sanctuary.

Day 2:
No Photos. Hired Bikes in Burley.

Day 3:
Up for sunrise on Godshill. Again, struggling with the cloud, but got a few nice shots of the free-roaming cows in the morning light.
Then went for a nice walk, parking somewhere close to the New Forest Wildlife Centre. The land opened up here, into quite a clearing, and we saw ponies and birds enjoying the sunshine.
Scuppered by rain in the evening.

Day 4:
Visited Marwell Zoo. Saw the snow leopard cubs, but really struggled for enough light. A little rain, and a very grey day. Not ideal for fast exposures. Would recommend the zoo though. Particularly for the leopards and snow leopards.

Day 5:
A day out walking in the rain & woods. But my best day. Parked up by the reptile centre, and walked South, following the river through the woods. This was a lovely walk, through beautiful surroundings. Saw fallow deer, ponies, and my favourite: pannage pigs :-) I ended up laying on my front, on the wet forest floor, to get a piglets-eye-view. Never thought I'd end up doing that just for photos, but it really helped to get more interesting shots. We even saw a family of piglets crossing the stream, which for some reason I wouldn't have expected. Seeing the piglets was a real treat, and even though this day was the worst weather, we had the best time.

Day 6:
No photos. Day out to Poole and Sandbanks.

Day 7:
World Tour of New Forest...
Eyeworth Pond,
Lymington (for lovely market),
Driving from Dibden Purlieu, to Beaulieu, to to Lyndhurst (as recommended - was "proud to be British"),
Mildford-on-sea. Great cliffs. Took quite a few photos of gulls and crows in-flight there, since they hover on the cliff edge, they're fairly still. Also lovely views to the lighthouse and chalk stacks to the East.
Brokenhurst. Lovely place. Oh, to live there :-)


So for me, the highlights were the piglets, and the walks in the woods. Godshill was a great sunrise location, but I never really got the weather. Woodgreen was a lovely place, and I'd stay there again for sure.

On my list for next time, a few other places in the area:
Wareham,
Brownsea Island,
RSPB Arne,
Durdle Door,
Corfe,
Portland sunset.

Thanks to all those who offered advice,

George

[monkey]

Thanks for updating us George on how your holiday went. Glad that you enjoyed it and especially the woods walk

Just going to have a look at your photos. I have posted some this week of the beautiful autumn colours

Linda