New Forest break in Hampshire October 2007 - page 1
We stayed in a lovely cottage in Brockenhurst in the heart of the New
Forest from which we visited Burley with its cider and fudge outlets,
Lyndhurst where we toured the New Forest Museum and Visitor centre and we
did a crunchy walk across Hurst Spit to Hurst Castle.
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This is Forest Lodge, the comfortable cottage in Brockenhurst we enjoyed
for our four days in the New Forest. As you can see, the autumn
weather was lovely and sunny - so far!
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On our first day we headed over to Burley where Mike studied the visitor
info board. Burley is a traditional New Forest village that's
steeped in dragon and witch legends. Ooh err!
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At the New Forest Cider Farm in Burley, Hampshire we sampled and purchased
some scrumpy Snake-Catcher cider.
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Ponies and cattle roam freely in Burley, this handsome guy came up for a
sniff of our cider as we loaded it into the car!
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Before leaving Burley we called in to the Burley Fudge Shop to buy some
yummy fudge! Please visit our UK
tourist links page for many New Forest related websites.
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Off to Lyndhurst next and an interesting visit to the New Forest Museum
and Visitor Centre where we discovered the area's traditions and
heritage. Entrance was £3.00
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Mike always has to try everything, here he got caught checking out a 'feel
what's inside' exhibit and felt... ...a slithering snake! Yuck!
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Day 2 and another bright one so we did a crunchy walk from Milford -on-Sea
in Hampshire along the pebbly Hurst Spit to...
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...Hurst Castle. It was built in 1544 as part of Henry VIII's
coastal defences to defend the western approach to the Solent.
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We found a cracking sun trap at the castle to enjoy our picnic lunch, with
views across to the Isle of Wight, just ¾ mile away!
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Now for some history... Hurst Castle was extended in the 1860s with
large east and west wings added, housing a total of 30 heavy guns.
During WWII, lookouts, searchlights and gun emplacements were constructed
on the roofs.
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The entrance to Hurst Castle cost £3.20
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Er, more history... Charles l was briefly imprisoned in Hurst Castle
in 1648 before being executed, and during the 19th and 20th centuries the
castle was further strengthened. Inside the castle grounds we
followed these railway tracks which were used to transport the 12½ inch
shells to the...
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...huge 38 ton guns! These could fire the shell some 3½ miles,
something to remember if sailing past!
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We found plenty of information boards and displays inside Hurst Castle.
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A mock-up display of the soldiers entertaining themselves off-duty.
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We'd wandered Hurst Castle from the east wing to the west wing, learning
much of the castle's fascinating history along the way.
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After some refreshments in the castle café, it was time to head back the
1½ miles along Hurst Spit to Milford-on-Sea. On the way...
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...Mike posed for this cracking picture with The Needles across on the
Isle of Wight as the backdrop.
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Our visit to Hurst Castle was abundantly absorbing and it was hard to
believe it was mid-October in the warm autumn sunshine. In fact, we
enjoyed better weather than some of the days on our earlier 2007 Shropshire
holiday!
We have many links to the places we visit on our tourist
links page.
On the next page of our New Forest visit
Mike 'enjoys' some hot 'n' spicy food, we head to Buckler's Hard, then a
wildlife park where Belinda bonds with the inmates and we finish with a
local walk around Brockenhurst.
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