The PIG
When visiting the New Forest in Hampshire we – like most people – headed for Brockenhurst.
We enjoyed a great circular walk around the village and afterwards we had a wonderful lunch at the PIG.
Tucked away in the New Forest, the PIG at Brockenhurst is the original, the blueprint of all the others.
Here at Brockenhurst they started their – at that time revolutionary – concept of simply using produce they grow themselves in the kitchen garden.
We like the philosophy of home grown and local produce.
Their menu changes not only with the seasons, but it also depends on what is at hand in the kitchen garden.
Each PIG has a unique mix of rooms.
At Brockenhurst you can choose one of the cosy rooms in the house or you can stay in a lodge, a cabin or a hut depending on the amount of privacy you require.
Walking
Brockenhurst is the most appealing and liveliest town in the New Forest. Surrounded by heath and woodland, it is highly picturesque.
Especially with the New Forest ponies strolling downs the high street.
Starting from the village with its famous watersplash, a varied 5-mile walk takes you across grazed lawns and through riverside woodlands before skirting around the edge of the village to take in some great heathland views.
From the village a 6,8-mile linear walk passes through Roydon Woods nature reserve over Setley Plain and onto Buckland Rings, the site of a former Iron Age hill fort near Lymington.
If you really want to stretch your legs, then try the Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst Loop.
This 10-mile circular walk takes you along forest tracks, mostly through old oak but gives you brief glimpses of heathland, river and marsh.
You can start in Lyndhurst or Brockenhurst and cut the walk short in either place by taking the train back.
New Forest National Park
Covering about 220 square miles, the New Forest is one of the largest medieval forest in western Europe.
It dates from 1079, when William the Conqueror requisitioned it as his hunting ground.
Much of the forest is little changed since then, with some of its trees more than 400 years old.
Today deer, ponies and cattle continue to roam free in its ancient heaths and woodland.
Clear rivers and shady groves provide tranquillity and a car-free haven for walking, cycling and horse riding.
The New Forest offers more than 140 miles of tracks and footpaths.
You will find long distance routes, short walks and easy to follow signed routes adventuring through ancient woodlands, through quaint pretty villages and across open moorland.
The liveliest and most accessible towns are Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst.
