Sunday, October 25, 2015

A weekend in someone else's countryside

I'm on my way back to darkest Suffolk after a weekend away, visiting part of Ros's small, but perfectly formed, family in the New Forest area. And, whilst I am naturally biased in favour of my local scenery, it has to be said that the New Forest has a lot to be said for it.

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight, using the Wight Link ferry, which was quite nice, even if Yarmouth is surprisingly small (nice castle though). Today, however, we were off to see some naval history.

Buckler's Hard is now a museum, but it was once a thriving little community, building some of the Royal Navy's most famous ships. Indeed, HMS Agamemnon, said to be Admiral Lord Nelson's favourite command, started life there. Now, all that remains is the sleepy main street, which slopes down to the water. Some of the houses are open to the public, but the rest are privately owned. There's also a nice museum, telling the history of the community and of some of the ships built there.

And on a lovely sunny October afternoon, what could be nicer than a walk through the woodland that lies on the west bank of the Beaulieu River? The woods are full of beech trees, turning from green to gold, the walking is easy, and at the end of it, Beaulieu itself is almost chocolate box in its prettiness.

All in all, a nice day out, and I suspect that there's still plenty left to see and do in the area.

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