New Forest
“No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.”
The Long Man of Wilmington
On our way from Canterbury to Rye, we stopped by briefly to see the Long Man of Wilmington. (There is a joke hiding here, but I just can’t see it yet.) This mysterious figure has baffled archaeologists and historians for hundreds of years. You can read more about him here, but I guess we’ll have to chalk it up (get it?) to another Stonehenge mystery.
Afterward we passed through Alfriston to see the much renowned Much Ado Books. Of all the bad luck, the store has been closed for refurbishment and they were reopening on literally the day after we passed through! Oh well…on to Brighton. (BTW, Alfriston was a stunningly beautiful little town and would definitely be worth exploring.)
Brighton
Brighton is a seaside resort on the southern coast of England and a favorite summer hotspot. We were there in the winter of course, but it was still a nice spot to pass a few hours.
The Brighton i360, a doughnut-shaped glass pod that permits unobstructed views as the pod travels to the top of the 450-foot tower and back down again. Below is the Boer War memorial in Regency Square.
You may recall from our blog post “Benjamin Franklin in London” that we had dinner at Unity Diner back in London. Vegan educator Earthling Ed and friends opened Unity Diner and also decided to tackle the problem of over-fishing by creating a vegan fish and chips alternative. The first shop they opened was in Brighton and they very cleverly named it No Catch. As was the case with Unity Diner, it has been a long-time desire to eat at No Catch, so it was a great to finally be here!
Believe it or not, our tofish and chips were absolutely delicious! I’ve tried, but I still haven’t managed to get on board with the British practice of dipping (or smothering) everything in curry sauce.
What a clever way to be on the cold and windy beach, and still be “outside” comfortably.
The Brighton Palace Pier
Such a beautiful sky! If you look closely, you can see a large array of wind turbines out in the English Channel behind the sun’s reflection on the water.
After leaving Brighton we were approaching the city of Arundel when we spotted the Arundel Castle and Arundel Cathedral. Both rise imposingly above their surroundings and looked like such amazing places to visit…just not on this trip.
The Travelator
Just before arriving at our new place in New Forest, we stopped at a large Sainsbury grocery store to stock up for the next few days. We parked in the underground garage and found an escalator ramp to the store above labeled as—no kidding—a “travelator.” Those goofy Brits.
Then we pushed our shopping cart onto the travelator surface and found the wheels of the trolley (shopping cart) that had been moving completely normally the moment before, suddenly locked into the grid of the travelator. Pretty darned ingenious! I filmed it on the way out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmD4xS31oO4
New Forest
After Canterbury we had planned to spend three nights in hotels but before departing we decided to see if we could find a house to rent in the New Forest area instead. We found a really great house (a video tour is below).
You can read more about the New Forest area here and you can see it on the map below. It’s a really amazing area and we’re so glad we changed our plans.
The New Forest is one of the most ancient places in England and the heart of Edward Rutherford’s book.
The New Forest pony is one of the best-known images of the New Forest National Park. Many thousands of ponies roam free across the Forest. They are sometimes described as “the architects of the Forest” because it is their grazing that creates much of what people know and love as the New Forest.
Each pony is owned by a member of the “commoning” community—local people whose properties have common rights allowing them to turn out ponies to graze on the Forest.
The New Forest pony has long been a distinct, registered breed, but its early ancestry includes other strains such as Welsh and Dartmoor stock.
The ponies are rounded up once a year in the autumn “drifts” for health checks and branding. Once in the spring and several times in the autumn there are pony sales held.
Walking through the forest looking for ponies.
The wild ponies are everywhere.
Check out this stash!
Walking through the small hamlet of Burley we found this little door.
The Queen’s Head pub.
Tour Craigwen Cottage here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qha_8ALdWv0
Will Drives
We headed out for a 2-mile hike and Will decided to try his hand at driving on the left side of the road. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FMPRaM3rxU
We walked along the Blackwater Woods trail.
“Time spent amongst trees is never wasted time.”
Great lighting.
We loved this sign. It’s illegal to “worry” an animal!
Two Giant Sequoias—California natives all around!
Along the way we found three different Daisys to pet!
Of course we had to find Will some wild horses to pet before we left.
