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Thecalm Keepers who carry on
Whether tending to deer or turfing out rogue campers, the Crown Keepers of the New Forest keep watch over its ancient woods and heaths. Now a book tells their story in unflinching detail, says Robert Hardman
The world beyond might have been transformed beyond all recognition over the last thousand years or so. But very little has changed here within the nearly 150 square miles of the New Forest.
It might receive more than 13 million visitors every year yet so much of it remains a mystery – not least its name. It is not remotely ‘new’, having been earmarked for special status by William the Conqueror soon after 1066. Nor is it what most of us would think of as a ‘ forest’, since nearly half of it is heathland. Today, it is also the largest single patch of unsown ground in England.
Many of its rules and customs have changed little since medieval times. Anyone who owns or rents certain pieces of land hereabouts is a ‘Commoner’ with the right to graze animals – for a fee – under the auspices of the ancient Verderers’ Court. And keeping it all ticking over, day and night, are a team of ten called the Crown Keepers of the New Forest.
Most of us will only come across them if we pitch a tent in the wrong place or start chopping down trees and lighting fires. But it is what they do away from public view – looking after all the flora and fauna, particularly the famous deer population – which keeps the place just as it was in Norman times. They are as modest and unobtrusive as the creatures in their charge. Now a magnificent book lifts the lid on their work and world.
Through season after season, distinguished photographer Sally Fear has been capturing the essence of forest life. Much of it is breathtaking in its raw beauty. But she doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities – the way that weak or injured animals must be culled, the torching of heathland, the vital part played by various forms of hunting through the ages. As the great countryside campaigner Robin Page puts it: ‘It is a very brave book.’
Sally’s work has so impressed the Duke of Edinburgh that he has written the foreword. ‘The New Forest has not only survived, it has thrived and this is due to the people who have given it tender loving care ever since it was set aside by King William,’ Prince Philip writes, before going on to praise the unsung efforts of the Crown Keepers. ‘Their evident success, in the face of dramatic changes elsewhere, displays a knowledgeable commitment, which is well beyond the comprehension of the casual visitor, and all the more skilful because it is not evident.’
Well it is now, thanks to this book. Many of the finest photographs are those of the rich array of New Forest deer – red, roe, fallow and sika, not to mention the more recent proliferation of muntjac, small dog- sized deer which breed all year round.
The red deer is the largest wild mammal in the British Isles and there are some beautiful shots of an absolute monster known as ‘Giant’ who is clearly the king of this particular jungle when the rutting season comes round. Sally spent four days trailing him into the remotest parts of the forest where he was a very busy chap, though she was surprised by the stupidity of the general public. ‘ I rea l ised with wonder and surprise how complex his day was, not only because he was being followed by other stags trying to take his many hinds from him but because of all the black labrador dogs that were bothering him. I was shocked by how many people take their dog for a walk off the lead and then never give a thought as to where it is.’ In any battle between a labrador and a rutting alpha male red deer, it is victory to the stag every time.
Her book highlights the fascinating differences between the different species of deer, including the white fallow – known as ‘Judas’ deer because their bright hides would give away the presence of the herd to poachers – and the noisy, noct u rna l sika. Come the rutting season, sika stags roll around in mud and their own urine to make themselves especial- C M Y K ly attractive to the hinds. Who says romance is dead?
The Keepers must be expert marksmen, and the book shows t hem goi ng through their annual test in which they must display the accuracy of a sniper. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh As well as culling weaker specimens which will not survive the winter, they are often called upon to deal with accidents. The book illustrates the sad story of a fallow buck which, having got its antlers tangled in a hay net, managed to escape with the hay net only to get it tangled around the antlers of another deer. Both were in a terrible state by the time they were spotted, one of them with a broken leg. It required two Keepers to shoot them cleanly and simultaneously to avoid any further suffering.
All fallen deer are dealt with on the spot and their innards left by the nearest tree as a feast for local predators, a process pictured with unvarnished honesty. It is not one of the prettiest photographs in the book.
The New Forest owes its very existence to a royal love of hunting back in the 11th century. Numerous hunts still lay claim to the place, even if Tony Blair’s government did much to curtail what and how they can hunt these days. The New Forest Hounds, which used to hunt foxes, now chase a scented trail, as do the New Forest
‘The forest has not only survived, it has thrived’