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19 New Forest National Park
Designated as a National Park in 2005, in reality this lovely area of heaths and forest, coast and creeks has been a national treasure for over 900 years. William the Conqueror saw the potential of the area as a hunting reserve and declared it a Royal Forest, subject to draconian laws and punishments and preserved as a private paradise for royalty and their guests to enjoy. Today, this corner of Hampshire remains a rural enclave; nowadays accessible to anyone wise enough to venture to one of England's last great broadleaf forests, where timber for Nelson's fleet was harvested. The best way to experience the tranquillity of the Forest is on foot; between Lyndhurst and Burley, for example, you can walk for around 5 miles beneath the trees. Cycling, too, is of growing popularity, with gravelled and managed tracks criss-crossing the area. Using the summer New Forest Tour Buses (hourly every day July to September), access to the Forest's charming towns and villages, as well as the deeper recesses of the woods and gorsey heaths is quick and easy. Lyndhurst is at the waist of figure-of-eight routes taking you to Beaulieu and Lymington, with their coastal, naval and sailing heritage; to ancient Fordingbridge and Ringwood's market, and to Brockenhurst and Burley, where cycle hire centres give chance to get well off road. Fallow deer, descendents of those introduced by William, together with the renowned New Forest ponies, rare butterflies and birds all inhabit this ancient countryside, so leave the car at one of the main centres and explore this former royal realm on and from open top buses, hopping off as and when you choose with a £10 day ticket. www.thenewforesttour.info www.newforestnpa.gov.uk See also: Hampshire
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