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Southampton
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Winchester
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Bournemouth
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Totton
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Totton is a small town with a strong shipbuilding heritage towards the north-eastern fringe of The New Forest, with ponies still roaming through parts of the town until the 1950s. Totton’s people like their town to retain a separate identity from that of their neighbour Southampton.
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Hythe
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The town of Hythe has long been associated with the sea, and the Old English ‘Hyth’ was word meaning a permanent landing place for boats on a river. Fittingly, a ferry continues between Hythe and Southampton to this day, although sadly the service is increasingly threatened with termination.
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Fawley
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Fawley is a heavily industrialised area with an oil refinery and power station, a far cry from the technologies of the Bronze Age and Roman settlers who inhabited this area. The first Saxon invaders are thought to have landed near to the town.
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Beaulieu
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The historic village of Beaulieu is home to The National Motor Museum, Palace House and Beaulieu Abbey , as well as delightful gift shops, cafes and tea-rooms. Its name derived from the Latin ‘Bellus Locus’ or ‘beautiful place’ and has been part of The Montagu estate since the 16th Century.
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Bucklers Hard
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The secluded village of Bucklers Hard has a proud maritime history, commemorated by The Bucklers Hard Maritime Museum. Notable ships built in Bucklers Hard include Nelson’s HMS Illustrious and Agamemnon.
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Lyndhurst
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Lyndhurst is the ancient capital of The New Forest. Listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ‘Linhest’, the town is still one of the area’s principal centres of administration; The Verderers Court can be found here, as well as The New Forest Museum.
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Brockenhurst
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Brockenhurst is a large village in the heart of The New Forest. It is a good place to visit for cafes and tea-rooms, and also pubs (The Snakecatcher was a regular haunt of ‘Brusher Mills’ – a local character who collected snakes from the area and sold them on to London Zoo). There are several hotels and restaurants around the Brockenhurst area worthy of mention.
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Lymington
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Lymington is listed in the Domesday Book as ‘Lentune’ and is perhaps best known today as a nautical town, with yachting from Lymington Quay and of course the Isle of Wight Ferry sails from here to the island in approximately 30 minutes.
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Milford-on-Sea
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Milford-on-Sea is a busy little seaside village with quaint tea-rooms, cafes and restaurants. It was Col. Cornwallis-West who added the “-on-sea” suffix in the 1880s, in anticipation of the village developing into a grand seaside resort town, an event which, thankfully never happened.
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New Milton
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The Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum can be found in the pleasant and bustling seaside town of New Milton.
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Christchurch
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The pretty town of Christchurch can be found on the south coast between The New Forest and Bournemouth. A town of Saxon origins, Christchurch is full of historical intrigue.
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Burley
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Burley is a quaint village towards the west of The New Forest, with an array of delightful tearooms and two notable pubs. The village has been linked to witchcraft, and Sybil Leek, one of the region’s most renowned White Witches, used to live in the village. The Coven of Witches, a gift shop in the village, was named by her.
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Ringwood
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Ringwood, or ‘Rincvede’ meaning ‘River Ford’, straddles the River Avon on the western fringes of The New Forest. It is on the A31, linking Southampton and Bournemouth.
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