New Forest

Wow, it seems to have been an age since I've had a chance to sit in front of a computer and actually write something on here. I've taken the chance to upload pics when I can, but it takes a bit more time and attention to explain what they are about!

The first May long weekend, Claire and I had decided that after working very hard, we would book a nice relaxing weekend in the New Forest. It's in Hampshire, sort of in the middle at the bottom of the UK. It is famous for it's beautiful forests, but more so for the ponies that inhabit it, which are all allowed to roam free in the quaint little villages and in the forest itself. I think it's Britain's smallest National Park, and used to be the Hunting ground for the Monarchy.
we stayed at a lovely B n B in the middle of the Park, in a little town called Lyndhurst. It has lots of really pretty buildings and shops, and the churchyard has the grave of the lady who Alice in Wonderland was based on.
We hired bikes and rode south through the forest on the Saturday, seeing lots of horses running around, and some cows and donkeys as well. We were pretty tired out by mid afternoon, so jumped in our little hire car and checked out Fordingbridge, which has a cool bridge (predictably!).
Sunday was wetter, but we headed down Bournemouth on the coast to meet up with Lara, a friend from uni, and her friend (now our friend!) Marian.
We checked out Bournemouth Pier, and went to a lovely restaurant in Lyndhurst just up the road from the B n B. Monday we went to a Cider press and a lovely ancient thatched roofed cafe for a bite to eat before heading back to London.