Ponies at Hollands Wood

[TheWorstWitch]

Just been reading reviews in UKcamping website and many complain about the violence of the ponies. Was thinking of going August bank holiday but worried about my small 2 year old DD will get kicked.
Am I being paranoid, or is this a valid concern?

Also, some of the pitches seem to get flooded. We only really camp in France so rain isn't really taken into consideration when pitching. What kind of pitch should we be looking for to avoid flooding?

Thanks in advance, WorstWitch

[TheWorstWitch]

Oh dear, I'm a bit late - no availability on the bank holiday.

Does anyone know what Holmsley is like?

[usernametaken]

We went a few weeks ago. The ponies are beautiful but so bold. My sensitive 4yr was really scared especially when they stole her breakfast and wrestled with DH. For 20minutes he had a horse following him and pushing him etc. Eventually a ranger came and we were told to spray the horse with water from a sports bottle. This caused the horse to go into our tent...so more water sprayed at it and it backed out.

If you leave any food out in your tent on on a table over night they will eat it. Our neighbours tent had their left over BBQ trashed in the night and all their left out wine glasses smashed. Leave all food in the car whatever.

We loved the campsite and will go back...armed with water! We were pitched right on the edge of the campsite so the first port of call for the ponies, but saying that, the ponies go anywhere they want. I don't honestly know how they would treat a 2yr old, but seeing another neighbour had their car kicked by one, I wouldn't like to comment.

The campsite is excellent with basic but plenty of facilities. The views are stunning, the area is gorgeous and the campsite is very well maintained.

[BramblyHedge]

We went to Holmsley last weekend. It was packed! It was ok - facilities were fine and has extras like a store, coffee, playground (which we weren't fussed for). It isn't particularly scenic and is an old RAF airfield so has lots of concrete from where the planes used to park. We didn't mind this as ds1 (3) could ride his bike easily. It is very flat and didn't look like flooding would be a problem.

We were unlucky and pitched next to some loud singletons who played club music at 2am but that could happen anywhere!

We had wanted to ho to Hollands Wood but couldn't book it :-(

[Looster]

We're going this weekend and have the water sprays ready! fully expecting the ponies to nose in our tent though...will post back to you know how we found it. our youngest is 15 months and a complete hazard, ponies are the least of my worries! not really worried about her being kicked - will just pick her up if the ponies come near and squirt them away

[TheWorstWitch]

Thanks, guess I;m being a bit paranoid about the ponies as I should do what Looster's going to do: pick her up if they come too close.

Slowly going off the idea of Holmsley. I thought they had wardens to keep noise levels down?

Had my heart set on Hollands Wood.

Can anyone suggest anywhere family friendly, close to a beach where we could go crabbing, within a couple of hours drive from London?

[Kbear]

Harrow Wood has vacancies - no electric hook up though, it's at Bransgrove near Christchurch

[TheWorstWitch]

Thanks Kbear.
Harrow Wood looks good and it has great reviews on UKcamping website. Love the fact that it doesn't seem cramped. Will show DH tonight.

Do you know where's the nearest crabbing beach to the site?

[Kbear]

no sorry, Highcliffe Beach is lovely though and quite near.

[TheWorstWitch]

oh dear, harrow Wood is full too
Any other recommendations please?

I did look on the Forestry Commission website and Ashurst still has spaces, but I was a bit nervous about being woken by the trains in the morning.

[TheWorstWitch]

Just booked Ashurst as paranoid we're not going to get anywhere now.

[Looster]

Hi - I know you aren't going to HW this time around but wanted to feedback. We thought HW was lovely for kids and we had no real problems with the ponies at all.

The ponies were near us when we camped so we had one nosy one poking around in the boot of the car to find the food but my friend just cajoled himi along and off he trotted. After that, no problems at all. They didn't come into our camp again during the daytime although did hear them at night. We did keep our food in the car and made sure that we cleared away everything at night that was food related and stored it in the car if necessary, generally kept the camp clean. But no ponies eating our food off our plates which I had read somewhere! The kids played on the open land to the right hand side where the ponies were all day every day and had no problems. They are 4-5 so we told them to keep away from the ponies back legs etc. Toddler always under supervision so kept her away from back legs!

We camped on the right hand side near the end, a few minutes walk from the end shower block and near the open land on the right hand side. The rangers recommended parking on the right hand side as opposed to the left to avoid any water logged ground. We arrived just after it had rained so we could see where the water logged ground was and picked a sandy spot where it looked to have good drainage.

If you are looking again in the future, would thoroughly recommend. We thought it was a very family friendly campsite - lots of children ranging from babies through to early teens.

[Millimat]

We are going to Lytton Lawn which is on the edge of the New Forest but also on the coast at Milford on Sea. The beach is pebbly so guess it would be good for crabbing etc. Not been before so have fingers crossed. Its not cheap for a small site with just a shop and chn play area, but you get to use all the facilities of its sister site 2km away (swimming pools, crazy golf, cafe, bar, etc) so I'm hoping it will be a quiet site but with all the entertainment if we want it

[TheWorstWitch]

Looster - thanks for letting us know how you got on and glad you had a good time there with no pony probs.
Will definitely earmark Hollands Wood for a future stay, but have booked at Ashurst which is part of Forestry Commission too.

Millimat - have a fab time at Lytton Lawn.

[flippyflop]

I am a Holmsley Fan & have also been to Hollands Wood, yes the ponies are very bold, we had a couple steal a load of rubbish from our bags in the middle of the day, while we were all around (& there were 20+ of us!) but were never nasty.
I would say have your water sprayers at the ready & don't leave any food out overnight, or if leaving the pitch & you should be fine..It's a lovely site, in a lovely area.