Today was a gloriously beautiful day here in Wiltshire and you could just feel spring in the air. So I went along with Brit Boy to see a client. We had a long ride today because we were going to Nomansland. Back home in Georgia, we would say as an expression that somewhere out in the middle of nowhere was no-man’s-land. Well, it is no longer a place of fairytales or expressions for me, it is a real place. Nomansland does exist and lies along the Wiltshire and Hampshire border. It is a small place and is situated along the edge of the New Forest National Park.
The New Forest National Park is a former royal hunting area that was created by William the Conqueror in 1079 as a place for mainly hunting deer. It has been officially designated as a national park within the last couple of years. The New Forest is a lush green forest and a place of recreation and has walking trails and such. There are deer that still roam within the forest.
My favorite bit about the New Forest and Nomansland area is that there are wild ponies that are allowed to roam freely around the forest, along the fields and they even wander into the road. The speed limit is slowed in the area and there are signs to remind you to watch for these beautiful creatures. There is just something so wonderful about the fact that in our modern world there is still a place for animals to act as they always have. It is great that they are free and that humans and animals live peacefully side by side. Here are a couple of pictures of the sweet ponies. I sort of caught the tail end of a couple of the ponies, but you can get the idea of just how close you can get and how gentle they are. You can also see the rugged scrubbed terrain out there. The land is hauntingly beautiful there and is dotted with this scraggly bush called gorse which has yellow flowers. When Brit Boy and I go through there, it is like it is just us and the ponies.
