New Forest

[tartanwiz]

Why is it called the *New* Forest if it is the most ancient woodland in Britain, a surviving part of the original Wildwood?

[bernardo]

It was new when it was planted 1000 years ago.

[New Forester]

Not quite right, bernardo.  It was "new" when it was made a Royal Forest by Bill the Conk, probably soon after he Conked.

 

Forest in this sense does not mean trees, but an area reserved for hunting -- it might have no trees at all, like Y Fforest Fawr in Wales.  The New Forest was therefore not "planted", although there has been much tree planting within it since (particularly in the last century or so).  So it's not new, and its not a forest, at least as modern people would understand it.

 

Unfortunately, as Crown Land it was passed to the Forestry Commission, who did not understand their own title and planted lots of conifers in "Inclosures".  They've now seen their error, and are busy opening up the Inclosures to the Forest again, as well as restoring natural drainage patterns and encouraging the traditional grazing.

 

In the 11th century the New Forest would have been much the same as the rest of the lowlands -- just with fewer of us peasants.  Remember that nearby Winchester was still the (joint) capital then, so it was convenient for a monarch popping out for a bit of slaughter when he'd run out of Saxons.

[Jenny Tools]

Ahh so why is Newcastle called new when it does nee have any?

[nortypony]

Jenny Tools - Newcastle was probably a name given by the Chav people who are the fore fathers of all geordies.  They stole a castle many years ago and carried it (there was a lot of them, you see) back to an area, which to that point had not been named.  As they had acquired a New Castle they called this land Newcastle.  Unfortuantely, by naming the whole city Newcastle - the place where it was stolen from (which I beleive was Somerset, so called because after the theft they realised that of their castles, some 'er set (in stone), and some 'er not) realised that it was the Chav people from up north who had stolen the castle, so the Southerners came and took it back.  At the same time they educated the Chav people (who had to move South to fit in with society), leaving Newcastle rather sparce of people clever enough to change the name to something more appropriate.

[tartanwiz]

Newcastle actually gets its name from a (then) new castle Edward I had built there. But it wasn't a defence against Northern Chavs, but us Scottish Neds.

[woofgang]

The New Forest was made to provide a larder for Bill and his lads. So valuable was this larder that the peasants who lived in it were not allowed to hunt and any dogs that they owned had to be "lawed", made legal to own by having some of its toes cut off sp thst it could not run fast enought to hunt. The books by jack Hargreaves (the "out of town" man ) have lots of interesting info like this.

As I understand it, the forestry commish planted the pine trees in a doomed attempt to make us self sufficient in softwood products including paper after the last war had demonstrated what a blockade could do in terms of limiting imported supplies. unfortunately (again as I understand it,) our climate is not suitable for growing the knot free type of wood that is needed so gradually the wood is being harvested and areas replanted with native species. Where's NEWFORESTER when needed??

PS I too am a New Forest resident, but an incomer, not born here

[woofgang]

by "made", I mean named and claimed, not planted

[New Forester]

Woofgang -

 

Some Inclosures are indeed being replanted with native trees but others are being thrown open to stock.  There is pine, as well as spruce and Douglas fir.  However, most timber is pretty well uneconomic at the moment, soft or hard.

 

Nowadays we import our softwood instead from intensive northern forestry, and hardwood by turning tropical forest into unlightable charcoal briquettes, then into cr*p beefburgers, instead of using our good native hardwood woodlands and growing proper cattle between.  Our woodlands are derelict and our commons overgrown, while wilderness in other parts of the world is being destroyed.  Again it's all because only the cash cost counts -- we're spending the family silver on this as on so many other things.

 

The test for lawing dogs was a hoop, still in the Verderers' Court in Lyndhurst.  If your dog could go through this hoop, it was assumed to be too small to chase deer.  If larger, it was mutilated, like those poor American "indoor" cats.

 

Incidentally, I too am a New Forester by choice rather than birth, though I'm a commoner at heart.