Up a gravel track onto the hillside, this smart oak framed house is beautifully produced for guests who want some serious relaxing. You’ll be spoilt for choice; breakfast by birdsong, pottering to the pub, and supper under the stars… It is all served with a generous helping of the very smart, very chic, ‘Hamptons’ style.
The Hamptons is a place close to home for the owner who lives in Connecticut. She’s bought items from her favourite US stores over and expect clever use of neutral fabrics and texture. There’s a small outdoor cabana and wicker furniture and a second sitting room in the annexe. The views from the verandah are bucolic through the tree tops and down to the ponies on the water meadow.
The New Forest here is wilder than the southern National Park areas. You will see deer, ponies, and in autumn, pigs, wandering past. Try to walk from here at dawn and dusk – you’ll get the drenched in Britain’s best bird song all the way.
Active folk may want to bike (on and off road) and horse ride locally. Water lovers will want to head to the New Forest Aqua Park, 10 minutes away – it’s very good.
There are several good pubs near. For ingredients head to Hockeys farm shop for coffee and to cuddle small animals too. If you want the coast for a day, drive to Mudeford or Avon beach, both 25 minutes to the south.
Join Fred Sirieix and Chris Bavin on 'Remarkable Places to Eat' on BBC Two as they tuck into our 25-mile menu at THE PIG in the New Forest. Delving deep into our 25-mile menu and our obsessive commitment to home-grown and local produce, Fred and Chris have a chat to our teams to hear all about how our Kitchen Gardeners and Chefs work hand-in-hand, before tucking into Pannage Pork with ‘Dazzling Blue’ Cavolo Nero, and a wild Pear and Mustard sauce
25-miles of menu, a greenhouse restaurant, a walled kitchen garden, homely drawing rooms, cosy bedrooms, rambling forest walks and a couple of Saddlebacks!
We have an obsessive commitment to home grown and local produce at THE PIG. We celebrate the seasons and use only the best, freshest and most authentic foods and ingredients. Our surroundings influence our food in every way, what cannot be grown in our Kitchen Garden is sourced from within a 25-mile radius.
A favourite place for a warm sunny evening If you're driving or a welcome lunchtime drink and ploughman's if you're cycling or pony riding. Hidden away in the Forest, this has to be experienced. Lots of tables in a massive grassy garden complete with ice cream shed.
The Elderflower Restaurant, Lymington opened its doors on 7th March 2014, at the helm are husband and wife team Andrew and Marjolaine Du Bourg. With over 23 years combined experience of working in some of the top restaurants in England and France, they are realising their dream to run a unique restaurant, expressing their perception of the perfect dining experience for their guests. Their aim is to bring fun back into dining out, encompassing imaginative cooking, relaxed but efficient service in a stunning venue.
Afive-inch stack of old Telegraph newspapers is perched on the front seat of the bashed-up Subaru, while in the back is a long stick for fending off cows. At the wheel is Ann Sevier, a 13th generation commoner whose family has lived in the New Forest since 1650.
“Hello everybody!” she yells to the livestock as she pulls up in the car. We are in Latchmore valley near Fordingbridge, where more than a hundred cows and horses have gathered in the cool breeze that tumbles off the surrounding hills, providing respite from biting insects (behaviour known locally as “shading”). It resembles a congregation of animals you might see around a waterhole, except the horses have letters branded on their backs.
The ponies are excited by our arrival, particularly one male who mounts another behind the car. The abundance of poo and tightly-grazed grass suggests this is a popular haunt. Livestock from four miles around come to stand in this cool valley during the summer months. “They’ve been doing that all my life and all my father’s life. They’ve probably been doing that since the last ice age. It’s just a question of knowing the land,” says Sevier.