Jurassic Coast and New Forest

Besides the historic aspects of the holiday country Great Britain what I love most is the landscape. So also this time we went for long walks on our different excursions. Regretfully still many people are convinced that in Great Britain it is rainy and foggy most of the time. So far we always returned with a nice suntan from the British Isles so that friends already started to doubt that we really went there. When making a trip to the “Jurassic Coast” the weather again was fantastic.

The „South West Coast Path“ starts on the Purbeck peninsula and leads westward around Cornwall. We parked our car in West Lulworth and walked from a bay called “Lulworth Cove” to “Durdle Door”, a natural rock bridge of limestone. The hiking trail is in very good shape, I could have walked on and on. As we left our car in West Lulworth we had to take the same way back. We finished the day with a detour to Swanage. The road led through a military area, signs with “sudden gunfire” written on them added zest to the trip.

The roads leading through the New Forest - our actual reason to come to New Hampshire - are definitely not endangered by military action. As the name already tells: This landscape once was covered with forests. Already in the Stone and Bronze Ages they had started to fell the trees to be able to use this region for agriculture. Later on the New Forest became one of the most important wood suppliers for the Royal Navy. They meanwhile tried to reforest the cleared areas but due to the bad soil quality large parts turned into heather. In 2005 the New Forest was declared a national park.

You always have to watch out when crossing the park by car. The New Forest is famous for his wild horses. There might be animals in the middle of the road behind any turn, so please drive slowly! Of course there are also numerous hiking trails. Walking maps are sold in the information centres, eg. in Lyndhurst. The advantage when exploring the grounds on foot: Not many tourists seem to be willing to to without their cars. You may from time to time meet bird watchers or other nature lovers though most of the time we were on our own.