New Forest Thatched Cottage B&B

29/08/2026

The land will welcome the weather change this morning 🌧

28/08/2026

Best day to ride to the pub at Bank.

27/08/2026

Alfie had a lovely surprise this morning.
His friend Jasper came to visit to have a few days holiday here with him 🥰

21/08/2026

Yippee!

🚧UPDATE 21.08.2026 🚧 A31 to reopen tomorrow morning.

National Highways has confirmed that the A31 will reopen on Saturday morning (22 August).

Following the substantial heathland fire in the New Forest, repair work has included resurfacing the road, installing new safety barriers and replacing 1,500 metres of boundary fencing to help contain the Forest’s free-roaming animals.

It will reopen with some speed restrictions in place.

Thank you for your patience, and to everyone who has worked hard to get the route safely reopened in challenging conditions.

Timing TBC - please follow National Highways X account for any updates or its Travel Alerts page at https://bit.ly/4c2jVJy for more information.



📷 NFNPA

20/08/2026

Latest update on A31

‼️ UPDATE on repairs to the A31 ‼️
From National Highways:

Resurfacing of the carriageway has been completed, new safety barriers installed, and we’re making good progress replacing the boundary fencing.

These measures are essential for safety reasons to deter animals from entering the road.

With the fire raging for over a week, we have found a lot more damage since our initial assessments and the repairs required are now more substantial.

Nearly 1,500 metres of fencing needs replacing before the road can safely reopen.

As a result, we now expect work will continue into the weekend.

We appreciate the inconvenience this will cause. The conditions are challenging, and we are working with the fire service, Forestry England and others as we co-ordinate efforts.

As part of our work on site, temporary protection has been put around parapets which were damaged by the fire and will remain there until we get the bespoke parts needed. This means we expect the road will reopen with a reduced speed limit. Permanent repairs will be carried out at a later date.

Read the full blog: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/blogs/national-highways-making-progress-on-a31-wildfire-repairs/

National Highways

15/08/2026

For those people worried about watering holes in the New Forest: here are a few I came across out riding this morning.
New forest ponies and cattle are pretty savvy about their environment and know where it is. After all they have been here for hundreds of years!
I guess no one needs to tell the swallows how to migrate either, just a thought.🤷‍♀️
The New Forest is one of Europe's most important wetland areas.

13/08/2026

Road & travel updates following the fire on A31, if you are making your way to us

13/08/2026

Good morning 😍

11/08/2026

The roads are very busy with ponies and livestock at the moment. All seeking shelter and a breeze - they could be on the road! Drivers take care 🥰

10/08/2026

Advice on road and car park closures. Horrible news for the forest and very best of luck to those trying to get it under control.