The toys were made pre-war (1922-1939) by Frank Whittington in his small factory producing hand-crafted carved and painted toys (wooden animals, forest and jungle scenes, farmyard and Noah’s Arks, countryside, hunting, Nativity scenes).
For more information on Frank Whittington and his toy factory, please see this related article: https://nfknowledge.org/contributions/frank-whittingtons-forest-toys/
The breakout of WWII caused Britain to rely on native timber, rather than imports from countries such as Norway. As a result, women, known as ‘Lumber Jills’, were recruited as a separate branch of the Women’s Land Army from 1942 to fell trees, load them for transportation, and carryout administration. They consisted of more than 15,000 women between the ages of 17 and 24, working from 7:00am to 4:30pm.
The trees of the New Forest are an important part of this landscape. One such place is the site of an old oak tree which stands at the centre of New Forest lore, marked on the OS map as the ‘Naked Man’ (but often referred to by local people as the Wilverley Oak).
As folk history would have it, as seen from the eastern side the battered old tree once resembled a naked man and this is how it got its name; described in 1924 by the historian Heywood Sumner as ‘a trunk with two arms…its spine wood even now repels a knife.’ However, other lore describes how the tree was used for hanging highway men, a gallow tree (in other parts of the British Isles, a ‘grief tree’) and that the name developed from the sight of stripped criminals swaying from its boughs.
The original tree has all but gone, having been struck by lightning several times and reduced to a stump. However, another oak tree was planted at the site some 15 years ago and this continues to thrive, protected by traditionally cut New Forest cleft-chestnut rails.
The Naked Man has been important to the resurgence of the esoteric in Britain with several influential individuals using the site since at least the 1930’s. Most famously, the site is a possible location for the ‘Operation Cone of Power’, a ritual carried out by the New Forest Coven in 1940 to stop the Germans from crossing the sea.
– Vikki Bramshaw, author of the book ‘New Forest Folklore, Traditions & Charms’
What3Words Address: ///clipboard.canoe.darker
This paper was presented at the New Forest Knowledge Conference 2018 entitled: The Role of Commoning in the Maintenance of Landscape and Ecology: A New Forest, National and Global Perspective.
Speaker:
Julia Aglionby, Foundation for Common Land
Abstract
The positive contribution of commoning was recognised in the Charter of the Forest in 1217 as providing essential livelihood needs for a large proportion of society and hence was enshrined in law to protect these rights. Over 800 years the role of commons has changed considerably but they are no less important to society just used differently. Commons are now a remnant of what they are having been reduced to only 3% of England but are disproportionately important. 21% of our SSSIs are common land, 39% of our Open Access Land is Common Land and 12% of our scheduled ancient monuments are on commons. Commons are looked after by 3900 commoners and it is commoning that maintains these public benefits. Public policy over the last fifty years has though imposed significant challenges on this positive narrative which cannot be taken for granted. In planning future policy commoners require appropriate support both in terms of facilitating governance and reward for the provision of these benefits to ensure the continued positive contribution. The Foundation for Common Land is working closely with government to shape a positive future for commoning.
The Talk
Known as Victoria Cinema in 1931, the Regal Cinema in Ringwood closed down in 1972 after a steady decline in use. The building it occupied was converted for various purposes, including a shopping centre, the ‘Route 42’ night club, and an Italian restaurant.
The cinema showed a variety of films, including those featuring Jackie Cooper, Clark Gable, and Laurel and Hardy.
This paper was presented at the New Forest Knowledge Conference 2018 entitled: The Role of Commoning in the Maintenance of Landscape and Ecology: A New Forest, National and Global Perspective.
Speaker:
Richard Reeves, Independent Researcher
Abstract
Commoning in the New Forest provides an insight into a way of life which has been lost to most of the country and is often advanced as an example of constant, unchanging tradition. While this is true in general terms, the detail is rather different. Commoning has changed and evolved over time to take advantage of opportunities and meet threats from both inside and out. Had it remained static and unchanging it would have been swept away with so much of the past. This presentation briefly examines the major phases of through which the commoning system has passed, what have been the drivers for change, and how that system has fared throughout its history, including threats to its very existence.
The following paper was presented at the New Forest Knowledge Conference 2017 entitled: New Forest Historical Research and Archaeology: who’s doing it? Below you will find the abstract of the paper and a video of the paper given if permission to film it was given by the speaker.
Matthew Goodwin, Hampshire Record Office
Matthew Goodwin, archivist at Hampshire Record Office, will discuss the fascinating work which is carried out inside the archive building in Winchester. Discover how you can access, for free, over 1,000 years of history and 8 miles of archives to help you with your local history research, family or house history and much more. Find anything from medieval charters to letters by Florence Nightingale or photographs of Harry ‘Brusher’ Mills to diaries from the Western Front. Learn about the work that goes on behind the scenes, including conservation and digitisation, which helps make history accessible to you. Or learn about our efforts to preserve and make accessible modern media formats from Betamax to VHS in the Wessex Film and Sound Archive. Find out about the range of events and activities held by Hampshire Record Office and how you can help unlock Hampshire’s history.
These stones are probably one of the most authentic examples of ongoing folk traditions in the New Forest, caught up in Forest superstition surrounding the Colt Pixy: a local trickster spirit that took the shape of a New Forest Pony and was known to haunt the moors. For centuries, threaded hag stones such as these were hung beside doorways to protect from such malignant spirits.
Hag Stones were also used for the observation of spirits. This is something that Tom Charman would have practiced, the belief that Forest spirits can be more easily seen through the hole of a Hag Stone, or ‘Holy Stone’. In the north of England, the hag stone is known as a dobbie stone, referring to the ‘Dobbie’, a ghostly black horse – which, in the same way, can more easily be seen through a hag stone.
In the New Forest there are a whole host of other superstitions surrounding the horse, from high-held tails forecasting bad weather to more complicated folk charms. Knotted horsehair was used for fertility, and plaited into rings which were considered to have lucky powers.
– Vikki Bramshaw, author of the book ‘New Forest Folklore, Traditions & Charms’.
Tree Charms or sometimes called ‘witch marks’ are found carved into trees in the New Forest, together with a range of other tree-carved symbols (known as arbor glyphs). Although these are hard to date, the examples found so far in the New Forest are likely to be at least 100 years old. The term ‘witch-mark’ can be misleading as it suggests the marks were created by witches – but in fact it refers to the belief that the marks repelled malign forces. Daemon-like characters have also been found carved onto trees in the New Forest, such as the below found near Burley, and it’s quite possible that some of these symbols were carved by charcoal burners too, who spent much time living deep in the Forest and were known to hold their own ancient knowledge.
New glyphs are being found all the time. The New Forest National Park Authority are currently running a public-led survey of ancient tree graffiti which you can view at: https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/tree-graffiti/
– Vikki Bramshaw, author of the book ‘New Forest Folklore, Traditions & Charms’
What3Words Address: ///weeds.miles.driveways
Many of the organisations who help care for the New Forest have produced pages which entertain, educate and help us all to understand more about this area of outstanding natural beauty.
Information about the environment, stories and memories are captured here. The site will direct you to other sources which can answer your questions and we hope you will contribute your own knowledge to those who share your interest.
You can search for topics, read articles and view the catalogues of many sources of information held in a large number of locations both in physical and digital format.
Constantly changing, the site welcomes contributions from individuals, groups and organisations and will be undergoing further development over the coming months so please take a look now, contribute and visit again soon.