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I've always felt that you have to walk through an area before you can say you truly know it. Better still, spend the night there as well.
So a big walk was planned over two days. 1, to know the New Forest better and 2 to check out how our ancient trees and woodlands are doing, or if I could even find them with the ever expanding pine plantations.
After reading up on forest law and it's origins, one name kept coming up. William the Conqueror the first Norman king who took ownership of this area, naming it his Nova Foresta (New Forest) banning the locals from hunting, collecting fire wood etc. Basic survival. They either moved out or faced harsh punishment for any of the above crimes against the king. This for me is the very real story of the hooded robber, Robin Hood. In order to survive they would go deep into the woodlands and live stealth, enacting revenge whenever possible. Story's like these filled my imagination throughout this walk.
My two day exploration started at the Rufus stone, the place made famous back on the 2nd August 1100. William the second was shot here and killed instantly when an arrow shot at a stag by his hunting partner, glanced off an old Oak tree hitting him smack bang in the middle of his chest . Was it an accident or was his partner an assassin? I tend to believe the latter as he wasn't a popular king, continuing the harsh laws on the locals like his father before him. His younger brother Henry was suspected of instigating the murder to claim the throne and become Henry 1st the third Norman king of England. He wasn't perfect in any stretch of the imagination but he drafted legislation to protect the people from tyrants like his brother and father so he gets my vote. Less than a century later the Magna Carter was signed into act and it was down to him.
Day one was an unbelievable joy, I was there to find the trees but the wildlife took centre stage. My first ever Siskin was spotted bathing in the river, I thought it was a budgie but it's beak was straight. Then a king fisher landed on a branch right in front of me before diving into the water, coming out with a minnow in it's beak. For me, this magical moment will take some beating. Luckily my camera was rolling, I was watching a squirrel when the king of fishers landed but by the time my lens focused he had dropped, rising out of the river with the sun on it's turquoise feathers, flicking droplets of water away before landing on the same branch. It's no wonder woodland folk believed in fairy's. I was transfixed. This was a purple patch for sure as moments later some people scared two deer through the same bit of river and they came my way, again I had the camera rolling. Normally it's there back end you see but they felt safe enough to walk within a few feet of me and like the magic KF, caught it all on camera.
My progress was slow, only covering eight miles in about twelve hours, but it really didn't matter, it would be day two when my feet, legs, and back would feel it while still trying to complete the planned circular. For now it was magical in the moment stuff and I was back in the zone. That place were the mind is still and I was noticing everything. Almost like nature was happening on cue, only too pleased to be filmed and take part in this adventure. Or maybe I was just enchanted, resonating on the woodland frequency. Whatever it was, it lasted well into the edit. Just had to do this wonderful woodland justice.
The plan was to camp at one of Williams old hunting lodges, well the remains of it, and although it seemed the perfect spot to watch the sun go down the lack of water forced my decision to crack on to a beautiful little river on the edge of a big old plantation. My first wild camp since Dartmoor last Feb 2020. The most peaceful night ever, one moment I was watching the last rays of the sun before she dropped over the horizon, tent door open cameras and gear still outside and the next it was absolutely pitch black and well after midnight. I was done in, and missed dinner, so a midnight feast, and that wonderful feeling of being out the box.
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