Half term fun in the New Forest

 We visited the Blackwater Arboretum in the New Forest with the grandchildren during half term and did the Tall Trees Trail.  You can smell the pine as you walk through this wonderful area.  Stunning Redwoods and Douglas Fir.  Specimens planted when the Rhinefield estate was laid out.  Lots of interesting fungi too.

The children then enjoyed building the ultimate forest den.  Den-building is surely what forests were made for.  It was fun, absorbing and a true team endeavour, scavenging the building materials among the forest debris, to sheltering from the elements within the finished structure.

After all this activity it was time for a pub lunch at The Crown Stirrup, nr. Lyndhurst.  This pub is named after an ancient object that was used to decide which villages were allowed to take their dogs hunting in the New Forest in the 11th century.  As the story goes, if your dog fitted through the stirrup it was allowed but if it didn't it was considered dangerous.