pannage pigs, golden woodland, misty mornings
Autumn belongs to the forest
This is the season the New Forest was made for
There's an argument that autumn is when the New Forest is at its very best - and we'd make it happily. The ancient oaks and beeches turn gold and crimson, mist hangs low over the heathland first thing, and the forest floor comes alive with fungi - around 2,700 species of it, some found almost nowhere else in Britain.
And then there are the pigs. Each autumn, in a tradition dating back to William the Conqueror, hundreds of pigs are turned out into the forest to snuffle up fallen acorns - a practice called Pannage that happens nowhere else in the UK. Real pigs, roaming free, right on our doorstep. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried.
Step outside
pannage, the rut and the turning trees
Pull on your boots (or borrow some wellies from us) and head into the forest. From mid-September you might spot the Pannage pigs snuffling through the leaf litter, while deeper in the woodland the deer rut is underway - stags bellowing and clashing antlers in one of British nature's great spectacles.
Keep to the paths, keep your distance, and keep your camera handy.
From the Kitchen Garden: harvest season
Autumn is when the Kitchen Garden gives up its best - squashes, roots, orchard fruit and the last of the late harvest, all finding their way onto the 25 Mile Menu within hours of being picked. This is proper autumn eating: slow-cooked, seasonal and exactly what a day in the forest calls for.
Autumn here is best enjoyed in two parts.
Half the day out in it - boots on, cheeks pink, making the most of the golden light and the turning leaves.
Then spend the other half by making your way slowly indoors, where the fires are lit and nobody's in a rush to move you along.
Cosy corners and log fires
The fires get lit, the sofas get deeper and the bar gets very hard to leave. Come in from a forest walk, claim a corner, order something warming and watch the light fade over the garden. Autumn evenings here are what the word snug was invented for.
Unwind in the Potting Sheds
Tucked away in the Kitchen Garden, our Potting Shed treatment rooms come into their own in autumn - a warm, quiet hideaway after a blustery walk. A massage, a facial, a proper switch-off while the garden does its autumn thing outside the window.
