🎬 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)

🎬Video clips from hidden cameras shows signs of successful breeding among the New Forest's pine marten population. The footage was captured by conservation group Wild New Forest as part of a long-term study into how the elusive mammals are recolonising in the area.

The cat-sized member of the weasel family was previously only thought to have survived largely in the North of England.

Marcus Ward of the Wild New Forest conservation group said the footage was "incredible".

🎬Pine martens are extremely rare in Britain. But, this is the second time anyone has filmed a sighting in the New Forest - with one first caught on camera in 2016.

The mammals are elusive members of the weasel family. Experts say pine martens were widespread throughout the country but their numbers began declining in the south around 200 years ago due to habitat loss and predator control measures.

🎬Hidden wildlife cameras have shown evidence of a possible "established population" of pine martens in the New Forest.

Pine martens were previously only thought to have survived in large numbers in the north of England. Wild New Forest members have used camera traps to film the elusive creatures.

🎬From British Gaumont, an unusual method of wildlife filmmaking. A family of rabbits are under threat from foxes, badgers, a shotgun wielding home-owner and the German Airforce.

The "Secrets of Life" series ran from 1934 to 1950

Gaumont British Instructional Films - Secrets of Life.
Released by General Film Distributors Ltd
Release Date: 1942
Film Title: Once We Were Four...
Director: Mary Field
Photography: Oliver Pike
Commentary: EVH Emmett

🎬British Movietone - We're going to great pains to make sure the Great Bustard doesn't escape again. Europe's largest bird hasn't bred here since 1806. Now preservationists hope to install six of the birds, from Portugal, in ideally protected conditions on Salisbury Plain.

British Movietone News ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986.