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The name of the NEW FOREST is misleading, for much of this region's woodland was cleared long before the Normans arrived, and its poor sandy soils support only a meagre covering of heather and gorse in many areas. The forest was requisitioned by William the Conqueror in 1079 as a game reserve, and the rights of its inhabitants soon became subservient to those of his precious deer. Fences to impede their progress were forbidden and terrible punishments were meted out to those who disturbed the animals - hands were lopped off, eyes put out. Later monarchs gradually restored the forest-dwellers' rights, and today the New Forest enjoys a unique patchwork of ancient laws and privileges, enveloped in an arcane vocabulary dating from feudal times. The forest boundary is the "perambulation", and owner-occupiers of forest land have common rights to obscure practices such as "turbary" (peat-cutting), "estover" (firewood collecting) and "mast" (letting pigs forage for acorns and beech mast), as well as the right of pasture, permitting domestic animals to graze freely. The trees of the New Forest are now much more varied than they were in pre-Norman times, with birch, holly, yew, Scots pine and other conifers interspersed with the ancient oaks and beeches. The main wooded areas are around Lyndhurst , the "capital" of the New Forest, and one of the most venerable trees is the much-visited Knightwood Oak , just a few hundred yards north of the A35 three miles southwest of Lyndhurst, which measures about 22ft in circumference at shoulder height. The most obvious species of New Forest fauna are the New Forest ponies (reputedly descendants of the Armada's small Spanish horses which survived the battle), now thoroughly domesticated - you'll see them grazing nonchalantly by the roadsides and ambling through some villages. The local deer are less likely to be seen now that some of the faster roads are fenced, although several species still roam the woods, including the tiny sika deer , descendants of a pair which escaped from nearby Beaulieu in 1904. Covering about 144 square miles - a third now in private ownership, the rest administered by the Forestry Commission - the New Forest is one of southern England's main rural playgrounds, and about eight million visitors annually flock here to enjoy a breath of fresh air, often after spending hours in traffic jams. To get the best from the region, you need to walk or ride through it, avoiding the places cars can reach. There are 150 miles of car-free gravel roads in the forest, making cycling an appealing prospect. The Ordnance Survey Leisure Map 22 of the New Forest is worth getting if you want to explore in any detail, and in Lyndhurst you can pick up numerous walking books and natural history guides. The forest has ten campsites run by the Forestry Commission, most closed between October and Easter - to get the full list, write to 231 Corstorphine Rd, Edinburgh EH12 7AT (tel 0131/334 0066) - and there's a youth hostel in Cottesmore House, Cott Lane, Burley, in the west of the Forest (tel 01425/403233).
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