They're cropping the mature coniferous trees in a corner of Burley New enclosure know as Great Early. Burley New was enclosed in 1810, though these conifers are a much later introduction, planted after the primary timber had been cropped. When you're used to the forest looking a certain way big chunks suddenly missing are a bit of a shock. That's the thing about the New Forest though, it's a living thing, it's not a historical scene set in aspic, it's a working and evolving landscape. Always changing, either moving forward with new cash crops to be planted, or travelling backwards restoring streams, encouraging the re-establishment of rare bog woodland and returning some former plantations back to open heath. I wonder what they'll do with this piece of land next? I noticed they've left the few scattered deciduous trees in situ.
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