Destination: England : Near London, a royal forest gives protection to wildlife and polish to country living

A walk in an English wood has always had a mystical allure for me, and one exemplary specimen is most decidedly the sprawling, environmentally protected area near Britain’s southeast coast known as the New Forest. During a trip to London last summer, my husband and I planned on a three-night New Forest getaway. But the region is so full of stately homes, historic cottages, castles and wild woodland that even a week would have been too short, although most sights are within an easy 30-mile radius.

For centuries the favorite haunt of English kings, the New Forest, or the Nova Foresta, as William the Conqueror dubbed it in 1079, is smack in the heart of Hampshire. Having survived more than 900 years as one of the largest stretches of undeveloped land in the country, in 1992 it was officially designated a Heritage Area, and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, to be preserved under the auspices of the New Forest Commission.

Although the name conjures up nothing but woods, with trees of behemoth proportion, just under half of the New Forest’s 145 square miles is actually forested, mainly with conifers, oak and beech.

More than 100 square miles of the area are still owned by the Crown and subject to the special and somewhat quixotic laws William created to protect the red deer for his hunting pleasure: Commoners in Norman times were banned from protecting their crops with fence or hedge from these foraging animals, and forbidden to take timber for houses or kill game for food. Grudgingly, the royals eventually allowed them to graze livestock on the forest wastes and this right survives to the present. About 350 commoners (yes, locals are still referred to this way) own land in and around the New Forest, and their cattle, sheep, pigs and donkeys--as well as thousands of undomesticated ponies and donkeys--wander freely in this almost completely wild state. During our July visit, every mare had a young carbon copy by her side. You couldn’t stop yourself from blurting, “Awww, how cute,” ad nauseam.

The New Forest is only two hours by car from London (one hour, 15 minutes by train from Waterloo Station, which is both a rail and Underground stop). A London friend recommended we anchor ourselves in Beaulieu, where he often takes his family cycling. Beaulieu is generally known as the most peaceful of the local villages. The name derives from the French for “beautiful place”-- beau lieu --but is pronounced “Bewley” by the British and any other pronunciation will be entirely disregarded. The village itself is no more than one dainty street--with tea room, general store and chocolate shop--which wends to the bank of Beaulieu River, where the currents stream into an estuary dotted at high tide by tiny sailing boats holding couples and dogs. Beaulieu Palace House and Beaulieu Abbey, a stone’s toss across the river from the village, are the main attractions in town.

Knowing my penchant for being pampered, our friend suggested the Montagu Arms, a rambling three-star hotel of ancient brick, lead-glass windows and ivy-covered chimneys that sits on the village’s main thoroughfare, the B3054 road. It’s the best inn in the area, with 24 rooms and suites individually decorated in dollhouse-style Laura Ashley prints and muted pastels, with a handful of canopied four-posters in the larger rooms. The variance in room decor and size gives one a sense of staying at a wealthy pal’s country house, except for the 24-hour room service and soft robes in the bathroom.. Early morning tea and home-baked biscuits (cookies) are served in your room if you desire, a civilized English practice that almost guarantees you get up on the right side of the bed.

*

After checking into our room, which overlooked the terraced flower, fruit and herb gardens, we went for a short stroll around town before dinner--very short. The town is so tiny it barely exists, but we were stopped in our tracks by the sight of--you guessed it--a mare and her young one, drinking at the river. Twilight is the hour when the New Forest begins to reveal its secrets, and some of the best animal encounters take place just as the sun starts to sink.

The Montagu Arms is much respected for its haute cuisine; indeed, a brochure boasts that “Dining with us will leave you fond gastronomic memories for a long time to come.” I will attest to the fact that I will never forget our dinners at the Montagu Arms, possibly the slowest restaurant in the United Kingdom.

To distract ourselves from what seemed to be a sort of endurance test at dinner the first night (How long would our patience last before we inquired as to the whereabouts of our grub?), we engaged in some discreet eavesdropping on our fellow diners, a mixed group of middle-age British couples, a pair of very young lovers, and two “women of a certain age,” gray around the temples, furiously plowing into what looked like sausages. My radar zeroed in on the table of four across from us, two chatty couples obviously sharing recipes: “They remove the spiny bits,” one of the men stated authoritatively “and bake the hedgehog. It’s perfectly tasty.”

During the seemingly endless hour between the first and second courses, conversation between us drifted to sleepy remarks such as, “What did you order?” “I can’t recall, it was so long ago.” When my grilled Dover sole (excellent) finally made its appearance, the waiter presented it with a flourish but no explanation for the delay.

Why, you may ask, did we not dine somewhere else? Because we booked a “Special Break” rate--third night free if you purchase dinner--that’s why. But the best dish I tasted, in fact, wasn’t even on the menu (which emphasized local pa^tes, wild fowl and sirloin). I requested instead a main course of raw vegetables and fresh prawns, and it came perfectly dressed in a light French vinaigrette with lemon. Just imagine what this chef could do with a hedgehog!

*

Beaulieu is such a small dot on the map that we were pleasantly surprised to find a first-rate concert being given one night literally across the road from the hotel. (It took place before dinner, of course. Otherwise . . .) Concert and recording artists from the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC were set to play a Beethoven, Brahms and Faure program in Beaulieu Abbey, which was founded in 1204 by Cistercian monks. The trio--piano, clarinet and cello, led by Andrew McCullough--frequently gives intimate performances in this gorgeous parish church.

Although much of the original abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII’s reign, the monks’ refectory (now the church) and the lay brothers’ apartments survived. The cloisters have been planted with aromatic herbs, and we wandered among the shrubs and ancient stones during the intermission, as the summer evening light faded to gold. Inside the cloisters, a plaque commemorates members of the World War II British Special Operations Executive who were trained at the abbey in clandestine techniques, then sent off on missions in Occupied Europe.

Beaulieu Palace, the home of Lord Montagu’s family since 1538, stands grandly beside the church for which it once served as the great gatehouse. Opened to the public in 1952, its monastic origins are revealed in features such as fan-vaulted ceilings and stunning stained-glass windows. The palace is also home to one of the world’s great motor museums, with more than 200 classic autos and horseless carriages well concealed behind its walls.

Exploring the New Forest is best done on foot, mountain bike or horseback, and we opted, like many visitors, for a bit of each. There are, officially, 15 walks in these woods, each originally the beat of a forest keeper from the days when deer still reigned supreme. Some, like Ashley Walk, traverse landscape resembling the Scottish moors, with acres and acres of wind-swept heath and clear views in every direction. Others, such as Beaulieu Heath Walk, begin in the forest, then wind all the way down to a sandy heath 100 feet above the sea. On a fine day, you can look across the bay, called the Solent, and see the Isle of Wight.

Purely by chance, we chose the Tall Trees Walk, later reading in the guidebook that it’s considered the most awe-inspiring and possibly most beautiful in the woods. Planted in 1859, the conifers here represent more than 20 species, and anything under 60 feet is just a stripling. Walking the 1 1/2 miles through this avenue of giants, we noticed their configuration was carefully planned so the trees could be easily viewed and admired. Ferns and shrubs carpeted their roots in a deep, downy green and wild mushrooms peeked from beneath the lowest branches. From August through October, chefs at some hotels, such as the Thatched Cottage in Brockenhurst, six miles east of Beaulieu, will let you accompany them while they forage for the prized fungi, a staple on most New Forest restaurant menus.

With more than 100 miles of bike paths, and mostly flat terrain, renting a bike in one of the villages and setting out on one’s own is rewarding and safe. We scored two rugged specimens in Brockenhurst. But so many villages to see--at least nine worth hitting--and so little time. In truth, the best part of our village crawl was the getting there: In midsummer, the forest heath is lyrical with the songs of skylark, wood lark and the pipit. Local beekeepers place hives in the open forest in July and August, when the heather blossoms inspire the best honey. Like a page from “The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady,” everything revolves around the rhythms of nature, and one soon begins to go with this flow.

In the local village of Burley--which counts witches, dragons and smuggling in its colorful heritage--we went horseback riding, hacking through the neighboring woods for a gentle two-hour ride.

Other not-to-be-missed towns in the area, often no more than a smattering of period homes, include Bucklers Hard, set on the river two miles south of Beaulieu. British Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson’s favorite ship, the 64-gun Agamemnon, which he commanded in 1793, was built here, and they’re still practicing the art of shipbuilding. The village itself is really just a sloping hill that was once a wide street, now grassy and unmarred by touristy souvenir shops. There’s a small maritime museum, a quaint old inn and pub called the Master Builder’s House--which, in fact, it once was--serving afternoon tea, sandwiches or full meals with sweeping views of the water. In summer, one can cruise down the river on the Swiftsure, a lazy ride through some of the region’s choicest scenery.

The Isle of Wight, with its authentic thatched town of Godshill, is just a 30-minute ferryboat ride away, and Lymington, seven miles from Beaulieu, boasts a cobblestoned waterside street, Quay Hill, worthy of any Robert Louis Stevenson tale. Now a center for posh yachts and streamlined sailboats, it was once a regular port of call for pirates; the winding Lymington River and many subterranean passages provided a merry haunt for smugglers. On Saturday mornings--market day--the village teems with life and street stalls bulge with bargains.

We drove into bustling Bournemouth, about 30 minutes away, for a quick look before beating a hasty retreat back to our beloved woods.

Mostly, it’s the wildness of the New Forest that burns in my mind, its boundaries irregular and difficult to define; the darkness of an oak alley suddenly interrupted by a leafy glade, stray shafts of sunlight penetrating the deep shadow like some heavenly sign.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

GUIDEBOOK: New Forest Primeval

Getting there: Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, United and American fly nonstop from LAX to London’s Heathrow Airport, with lowest fares beginning at about $875, including taxes.

All major car rental companies have offices at Heathrow. To get to Beaulieu from London, take the M3 motorway past Winchester, then join the M27 westbound and follow the signs toward Bournemouth. Leave the M27 at Junction 3 (signposted Beaulieu) onto the M271. Turn right on the A35, then left at the next roundabout, marked A326. At Dibden Purlieu, turn right onto the B3054 (signposted Beaulieu).

Where to stay: New Forest is dotted with quaint B&Bs; and a handful of good hotels, with the Montagu Arms Hotel (Beaulieu, New Forest, Hampshire S042 7ZL; telephone from U.S. 011-44-1-590-612324, fax 011-44-1-590-612188) generally enjoying the best reputation. Rates for a double, including full English breakfast and taxes, start at about $155.

For more information: British Tourist Authority, 551 Fifth Ave., Suite 701, New York, NY 10176-0799; tel. (800) 462-2748 or (212) 986-2200, fax (212) 986-1188.

New Forest Visitors Centre & Tourist Information, High Street Car Park, Lyndhurst, Hampshire S043 7NV; tel. 011-44-1-703-282269.

--L.M.