Brockenhurst is pretty and peaceful though its Meerut Road recalls a war

I’ve spent most of the week in Brockenhurst, which is often described as the prettiest village in the New Forest.

In fact, Brockenhurst is a two-fer – both pretty and well connected.

The village boasts the main train station of the New Forest, which effectively makes it the hub of the regional spoke, the smallest and most densely populated National Park in England.

Trains stopping at Brockenhurst connect the area to London, Manchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and so on. Without Brockenhurst train station and its cross-country connections, the New Forest would be a great deal less accessible to people who don’t travel everywhere in their own cars.

T’was ever thus, or at least for two centuries. The train station came to Brockenhurst in the 19^th century.

[A whole other piece could be written on Brockenhurst station, its tidiness and good order, its waiting room with the deliberate “calming” theme for neurodiverse people and the fact that it has plenty of staff who don’t seem harried but there to help.]

The picturesqueness of the village is apparent on alighting from the train. It is mostly quiet and very clean, with a number of thatched roof houses, some dating from the 17th century. Wild New England Ponies – a specific breed – cows and donkeys roam freely, with cattle grids only at some strategic locations, to discourage entry.

A mile or so right from the village centre, past St Anne’s Church and Meerut Road, the green of the forest looms in the horizon. Meerut Road is named after Indian troops of the Meerut Division who fought on the Western Front in World War I and when wounded, were brought to Brockenhurst for treatment.

Straight across from Meerut Road, the open expanse of heather, grass clumps and the occasional tree is littered with pony poop. The magnificent animals themselves graze in small groups. They pay no heed to the occasional human (and their dog) passing by.

The scene is one of peaceful coexistence, for all that the name of the main road nearby recalls war.