Tag Archives: new forest

Beaulieu

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A spot of Sunday lunch with the family meant a trip out to Beaulieu.  Located in the New Forest, it is well known as the home of the National Motor Museum.  However, that was not our destination.  Instead it was the Montagu Arms for some food and then a stroll around the village.  It seems the place is also a destination for people with old cars as a few rumbled through the place while we were there including what I think is an MG-A that I did happen to get a shot of.

The swans that were swimming nearby seemed pretty interested in us when they thought there was food involved but rapidly realized we were of no use to them and went back to what they were doing – also eating it seemed.  We did notice a house across from the pub with conspicuously red doors.  It attracted a lot of people who were having their picture taken outside so I wonder whether this is a location that is popular on Instagram?

Beaulieu

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wpid7728-C59F7165.jpgContinuing our UK trip, we were still in the New Forest and I wanted to visit Beaulieu.  It is many years since I have been to Beaulieu.  My grandparents took me there once and we went with the school on one occasion too.  However, I wasn’t interested in visiting the motor museum on this occasion.  Certainly, if I had a lot more time, I would have loved to take a look around but we didn’t have that much time.  Instead, I wanted to see the village which, judging by some pictures I had seen online, looked like it was very picturesque.

wpid7734-C59F7214.jpgFirst, though, I had to stay awake.  As we drove there, I was feeling rather drowsy.  Not a good state to be but hardly surprising given how long I had been awake.  When we got the village, I put the seat back and had a nap for a few minutes.  This was a big help.  Nancy was tired but not able to nap so she checked out a tea shop while I closed my eyes.

wpid7724-C59F7162.jpgWe then took a walk around the village.  It is by a river and is very pretty.  Lots of small houses and shops combined with a big green area all alongside the estate of the Earl which now houses the motor museum.  What I hadn’t realized is how much wildlife wanders around.  Yes there were ducks and swans.  I didn’t know that cows, horses and donkeys were loose in the area.  The donkeys seem to like the shops and apparently walk in if they feel like it.  The horses and cows were grazing on the more grassy areas but if they needed to get somewhere, they would walk up the street and trucks coming the other way would just have to wait.  Could I come up with something more English for our first day back?

Birds of Prey

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wpid7712-C59F7066.jpgThis is the first of a series of posts that shall crop up in the coming weeks that are from a trip to the UK.  Both my parents had significant birthdays this year and parties for both of them were to top and tail a trip back for us.  It has been a long time since we were back and it was nice to see a lot of people while we were there.

wpid7716-C59F7098.jpgWe arrived in Heathrow early in the morning and picked up the rental car.  We didn’t have anyone to see that day and our hotel wouldn’t be free until later in the day so we had a mission to keep ourselves busy and to stay awake.  Consequently, we headed down to the New Forest in search of a bird of prey sanctuary.

wpid7708-C59F7021.jpgWe had found this place online so didn’t know much more about it than the website.  The GPS got us there without any trouble.  I had bought the Europe maps for our Garmin because, despite years of getting around the UK without having heard of GPS, now I guess I am dependent!  The place was not huge but it had a very large collection of birds including lots of species of owl.  We wandered around looking at the various birds before a small flying demonstration took place on their flying field.  Apparently some of the bigger birds would be flying at the second show but we were content with what they had earlier on.  We didn’t want to spend all day there.

wpid7720-C59F7141.jpgAt the end of the flying, they brought out a couple of baby barn owls.  They were just in the stage of fledging but were still very fluffy and we were encouraged to stroke them to see just how soft they were.  Very soft and very cute.  It’s almost like I am back in my cute baby animal posts!