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May 14, 2025
Ringwood, UK: The New Forest


High Corner Inn, our accommodations in the New Forest

In America, we define a forest as “a wooded area.” But the original Medieval definition of a forest was “a preserve for royal hunting.” (A wooded area was called a “wood.”) So a traditional English “forest” may include woodland, grassland, farmland or heathland.

After William the Conqueror came from Normandy to England in 1066, he proclaimed the New Forest as a royal hunting ground in 1079. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book (the first English census).

Today, the New Forest is one of Southern England’s largest remaining tracks of unenclosed pasture land, heath land and woods. It encompasses 112 square miles, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wilshire.

We are staying for two nights at the High Corner Inn, a refurbished 17th-century country pub and inn within the New Forest. When we had our included breakfast in the dining hall this morning, we learned two things from our fellow guests:

  1. This inn is very dog friendly. Just about everyone staying here has one or two dogs.
  2. People think this is the best place to stay in the New Forest. Instead of being in a town or village on the outskirts, we are actually in the New Forest.

Our stay includes breakfast. Russell had the vegetarian option.


One of the many dogs we encountered. Gail grew up with beagles and likes to say “hi” to every one she meets.

There are two walking paths one can take directly from the inn, without having to drive anywhere. “Broomy Walk” is 3.9 miles and takes an hour and 40 minutes. “Milkham Car Park and High Corner Wood” is 6.5 miles and takes three and a half hours. We decided to go for the longer hike and set out at 10:30 am.

What a great hike we had! The provided map was difficult to follow, so we just got good and lost for three and a half hours. We walked through heath and woods. We heard and saw lots of birds. (We heard cuckoos, but didn’t see them.) At the top of a hill, we had a picnic lunch of nuts, dried fruit and water. We came upon a herd of cows grazing in a field. And we were surprised by a herd of horses that came out of nowhere and galloped all around us.


The trail map, which bore no resemblance to anything we actually walked


The “New Forest” had many different kinds of terrain, including woods, heath and grassland


Some pix of us on our walks


Gail found a gigantic oak tree that she couldn’t resist climbing


Some of the birds picked up by Gail’s “Merlin” app. We heard (but didn’t see) a cuckoo!


We encountered cows and horses


But the highlight of our day was when a herd of horses suddenly came galloping out of the woods. Russell stood perfectly still as they surrounded him. Then, they suddenly stopped and began grazing around him.

After a rest in our room, we decided to take the shorter “Broomy Walk.” Once again, we got good and lost. (We think the inn’s hand-drawn maps don’t actually reflect reality.) We relied on Gail’s GPS to get us back to the inn in under two hours.

Sadly, we had to move from last night’s larger room to a smaller room. (The larger room is reserved for another guest tonight.) We had dinner in the onsite dining room. It was nice not to have to drive anywhere for an entire day. But tomorrow, we will start (slowly) making our way back in the direction of London.


Our picnic lunch on top of a hill. What a great day!

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