Rainy Day Activities: Uncover history at the New Forest Centre

While it may be hard to drag yourself away from exploring the unique and beautiful New Forest, a trip to the interactive New Forest Centre is a worthy suppliment to your adventure.

You’ll get a whistle-stop tour through thousands of years of history with displays about ancient crafts (including charcoal burning and snake-catching) and the New Forest Embroidery, which recounts the area’s history, flora and fauna via 25 feet of impossibly neat needlework.

And while you can’t take home one of the famous New Forest ponies, there is a reconstruction of the Beaulieu Road pony sales yard so you can get an idea of the sights and sounds of a typical trading day.