New Forest lawns - relax and enjoy the wide open spaces

The lawn near Bolton's Bench, Lyndhurst

Grassy New Forest lawns, often well away from busy roads, provide ample space for relaxation, for the more sedate to sit and read or simply watch the world go by, and for families with children to enjoy cricket, football, rounders and other ball games, or to have a try at frisbee throwing, kite-flying and just about anything else that kids might wish to do.

There will also usually be plenty of opportunities to watch the local New Forest ponies and other commoners' animals, and to use the lawns as start points for strolls or longer walks.

Some of the more popular New Forest lawns are shown below, but there are, of course, many other attractive, less heavily used, more out-of-the-way places to discover.

(B) - Balmer Lawn, 1 kilometre north-east of Brockenhurst.

(D) - Bolderwood, adjacent to the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary and Arboretum car park.

(L) - Bolton’s Bench, on the eastern outskirts of Lyndhurst.

(M) - Whitefield Moor, alongside Rhinefield Road, 2.5 kilometres west of Brockenhurst.

(S) - Long Slade Bottom, 5 kilometres south-west of Brockenhurst.

(W) - Wilverley Plain, close to Wilverley Inclosure, not far from the A35, 6 kilometres south-west of Brockenhurst, 13 kilometres south-west of Lyndhurst and 7 kilometres south-east of Burley.