🎬 Peter Owen-Jones looks at four seasons in the year of the New Forest. Originally screened on BBC Four in January 2019.

‘The New Forest is a timeless place - there are no fences and the animals roam free. I’ve always wondered how the forest and the commoning way of life have survived in the middle of southern England for so long. It’s been an incredible experience finding out.’ - Peter Owen-Jones.

Over the year, with its dramatic seasonal changes, Owen-Jones ventures out into the forest and immerses himself in the lives of the Commoners, a group of around 700 people who have retained grazing rights for their animals, which date back to medieval times. From the first foals born in spring to the release of the stallions and the annual herding of the ponies, he discovers a hardy people who, despite the urban development around them, and the pressures on the landscape of 13 million visitors a year, retain a deep love of the land and a determination to see their way of life survive.

Presented by Peter Owen-Jones
Photography Paul Williams
Additional Photography Max Williams
Natural History Photography Aaron Cook
Produced by Mark Woodward
Executive Producer (Big Wave) Sarah Cunliffe
Executive Producers (BBC) Mandy Chang & Jo Lapping
Directed and Edited by Nick Stringer

A Big Wave production for BBC (2018)

🎬BBC South 50 years: Episode 19 The News. A series of 19 mini-features made by BBC South at Southampton in 2011 to celebrate the station's 50 year history.

Episode 19 The News. How the news has changed over the years. In the early days it was mainly voiced over captions and still photos. Also a look at Vox Pops and encounters with animals.

NFG are indebted to the BBC staff at Southampton for their help in sourcing items for the archive. See more episodes in the Category - BBC South.

🎬British Pathé – Cutting of the Christmas trees at New Forest. New Forest, Hampshire. GV. Christmas trees in the New Forest. SV. Man preparing to cut Christmas tree. SCU. Man cutting tree with mechanical power saw. CU. Christmas tree. CU. Pan, a man cutting another Christmas tree down. CU. Pan as tree falls. GV. Christmas trees being loaded onto trailer, & GV. SCU. Tractor driver. LV. Man cutting larger Christmas tree. CU. Cutting machine going through trunk of Christmas tree. LV. Christmas tree falls to the ground. GV. Pan as tractor and trailer carry trees away

🎬British Pathé – A group of horse riders pay a visit to Stonehenge. Salisbury, Wiltshire. Item title reads - Stonehenge. Salisbury, Wilttshire. (LNER). Various shots as a group of people ride along on horseback. M/S as they ride past Stonehenge. M/S as people sit and watch. L/S of the riders. M/S of Stonehenge

🎬British Pathé – Three times a year the wild ponies are rounded up. Some go for sale, some are set free, and some injured ponies are cared for, or humanely put down. The sequences show the ponies in the wild - the chase by the four 'Agisters' and their teams. The Agisters each look after a quarter of the forest including the ponies, who are owned by 'Commoners' Horsemen are seen galloping across open land rounding up the ponies. The ponies are herded into pens in a woodland clearing. A man cuts hair from a pony's tail. The story ends with the ponies trotting off having been set free

🎬British Pathé – Girl Guides from every nation meet on a camp in the New Forest. Title: "LADY BADEN POWELL. Visits Girl Guides of all nations in camp in the New Forest". M/S of Lady B-P walking between two lines of Guides of different nationalities. C/U of Lady B-P standing surrounded by Guides - on one arm stands an Indian Guide on the other is a Guide from an Islamic country. C/U of two Caucasian Guides from different countries. C/U of two more Guides, one has a tiny Danish flag tied to her woggle. C/U of the Guide from an Islamic country wearing a veil. C/U of Lady B/P standing next to a Guide from an Far Eastern country. M/S of a Guide using bellows to encourage a camp fire beneath a cooking pot, pan to two Guides sitting on the ground peeling potatoes. M/S of two Guides posting letters in a mail box (their embroidered bonnets suggest they may be Scandinavian!). M/S of a group of Guides sitting around their Guide Leader - they appear to be breaking up a tree branch to make a camp fire