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.
This is page one of two.
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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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