We only managed a 3 night trip away in April, this time to Sway in the New Forest. Great to explore an area very close to us. We stayed at the delightful Rushcroft Farm which, in addition to the campsite, also has a couple of cottages, a shepherd’s hut and a romany caravan to glamp in, aswell as caring for rarebreed goats, 2 horses and 2 donkeys. There were deer grazing in a field over the stream at the bottom of the farm and we heard a stag calling to his hinds a couple of times during our stay.
Sway is a good place to base yourself as you have the New Forest within walking distance as well as having a good train and bus service to Bournemouth and Lymington, a couple of pubs, supermarkets, a deli cafe and great butcher (we had 2 days of BBQ meat from here). It also didn’t seem as busy as places like Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst.
We spent our time walking and exploring the New Forest landscape; traversing through inclosures (yes spelling is correct!) which are areas that are fenced off from commonors’ animals so that timber can be grown, through to the heathlands looking lovely with the gorse in full yellow flower. We spotted ponies and cattle and lots of deer grazing, heard our first cuckoo of the year and spied our first swallow of the season.
We walked from Sway to Brockenhurst one day and stopped off at the Commoners Wine Bar for a drink. Chatting with the bar staff we learnt more about the New Forest commoners way of life and their livestock – with the annual “drifts” of rounding up their ponies for worming, trimming of manes and tails and general health checks by the agisters to ensure they are still fit enough to continue grazing on the New Forest lands.
We loved our short break away and learnt a lot about a beautiful area of the UK not that far away from where we live – it just shows that you don’t have to travel far to have good holidays.
#meanderingmumfords #motorhomelife #rushcroftfarm #commonorswinebar #sway #newforest
