🎬 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)

🎬 Ytene England's Ancient Forest. An NHU Production for BBC2. Filmed over two years by Manuel Hinge and narrated by John Nettles.

'Ytene' is an ancient name for the area now known as the New Forest. It was the site of the Jutish Kingdom and translates as "Jute", or "of the Jutes". An early Anglo Saxon tribe known to live in the southern parts of Wessex.

Ytene explores the wildlife found in the New Forest in southern England. The woodland, bogs and heaths of the area are home to wild ponies, fallow deer, badgers, foxes, wildfowl, and insects. Seasonal changes are shown, and some elusive species, such as firecrests, hawfinches, woodlarks and tadpole shrimps are pictured.

The programme is interwoven with historical re-enactments and describes the change in land use from mediaeval times.

Filmed and Directed by Manuel Hinge
Music by Martin Kiszko
Film Editor Martin Elsbury
Dubbing Editor Angela Groves
Dubbing Mixer Graham Wild
Unit Manager Christina Hamilton
Production Assistant Elizabeth Toogood
Field Assistant Len Mummery
Sound Recordist Nigel Tucker
Produced by Steve Nicholls
Executive Producer John Sparks
Originally broadcast in The Natural World series 1995

This is the version as aired on BBC in 1995.
Our thanks to The Natural History Unit for supplying the original master.
Film upscaled by New Forest Gateway (Media Archive).