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Except
where otherwise noted, the photographic images on this site are the copyright
© (2000) of Graham Cooper who has graciously granted permission for their
use on this site. The original intent of these photographs was to promote
awareness of the New Forest, its history and environmental status.
The New Forest in Hampshire, England was originally
commandeered in 1079 as a deer hunting area by the king, William the Conqueror.
As Duke William of Normandy, he had successfully invaded England in 1066.
The New Forest is a beautiful area, but it is
not "natural" in the sense of untouched by man. The Forest has been molded
by the fads of monarchs since William, and the changing priorities of
the Crown over the last 900 years: deer; timber for naval shipbuilding;
commercial timber production. Graham Cooper is one of many who are dedicated
to its preservation.
My thanks to Mr. Cooper for sharing his breathtaking
photographs with visitors to this site.
"But
in its wild scenery lies its greatest charm...... Nowhere, in extent at
least, spread such stretches of heath and moor, golden in the spring with
the blaze of furze, and in the autumn purple with heather, and bronzed
with the fading fern. Nowhere in England rise such oak-woods, their boughs
rimmed with the frostwork of lichens, and dark beech-groves with their
floor of red brown leaves, on which the branches weave their own warp
and woof of light and shade."
John Wise, 1895 - The New Forest, Its History and Its Scenery.
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