Business events in The New Forest

A forest that is also a working place

The New Forest became a national park in March 2005, but the land was being managed long before that. The Verderers, a court set up under the New Forest Act of 1877, still regulate commoning: the right of local people to turn out ponies, cattle and other animals onto the open forest. So the ponies and cattle on the forest roads are not wild: they belong to commoners.

The district council's area is larger than the park and takes in the coast and the towns round the edge. The Office for National Statistics counted 175,800 people in the New Forest district in 2021, slightly fewer than in 2011, and ranks it the 10th least densely populated of the South East's 64 council areas. It is one of only two council areas in Hampshire whose population fell between the censuses.

The towns round the edge

Lymington is the harbour town on the Solent, with its own branch railway. New Milton is further west along the coast towards Dorset, and Ringwood is the market town on the A31 by the River Avon, on the far western side. In the middle of the forest, Brockenhurst has the main line station, and Lyndhurst, the forest's old capital, has its own page with its history. Cadnam is at the top, where the M27 meets the forest.

Hampshire Events puts Totton and Netley Marsh in Southampton and the Solent: they are in New Forest district, but sit on the Southampton side of the forest.

Visiting for an event

Distances here look short on a map and take longer on the ground: many roads cross open forest with animals on them, and the park authority's own factsheet on Lyndhurst describes the congestion its most popular village sees at peak times. If you are driving, allow extra time, and check the venue's page for parking. Brockenhurst and New Milton are on the line between Southampton and Bournemouth, and Lymington has its own branch from Brockenhurst.