New Forest Heritage Centre — Local services in New Forest

I have been frequenting this visitor centre for the last 20 years as a visitor and now a resident of the forest, I have always found the staff and volunteers extremely helpful and friendly although after the actions of one disgraceful member of staff I will not be returning. The centre is supposedly welcoming for families although one member of my party ( a four year old boy) accidentally dropped a small plastic toy from the upstairs gallery. This was a silly unpredictable action from a small boy whom was instantly reprimanded and understood he had made a silly mistake, however the lady in charge found it necessary to vindicate the small boy insisting he had "thrown it at a baby" this was completely untrue however she continued to harrass the poor boy whom was extremely apologetic along with his mother and father until they were all tearful and felt they had no choice but to leave the facility. It only made me realise how awful it would be if say we had happened to be with a child or adult with special needs as this disgusting woman would have made it completely impossible to enjoy the...

A pleasant way to lose a few hours of the day finding out a little (or a lot) about the New Forest, from its ancient beginnings, to modern day ways.

Fun fact finding trails for the younger members of your group to do; displays of local (?) art in the gallery; find out who was the real Alice in Wonderland and her connection with Lyndhurst; the role the area played in both World Wars, and lots more.

A welcome recent addition in the space previously occupied by the Visitor Information Centre (crazy why it was shut by the council), is the Tip, Leaf & Bean Café. Avoid the hustle and bustle of the other tea rooms/coffee shops (ie Costa etc) in the high street, then perhaps purchase a souvenir in the gift shop.

The museum is run by a trust, most (if not all) of the visitor facing staff are volunteers, and entry is free. That's right, I said FREE! As such, consider making a contribution to the running/upkeep of this little treasure in one of the voluntary donation boxes...

This is a really interesting facility, incorporating a museum, as well as information on the local culture; it's in a mote modern building located just off the main road, next to the main car park.

There are a variety of exhibits, with a mixture of pictures, posters, artifacts, recreations, models, video and audio recordings.

I particularly liked the items covering the build up to D-Day; even though it could be seen as more recent history, there is so much that people don't know about that period, and it's great to see how they cover it.

However, they also offer some fascinating insight into how the area developed and how this lead on to the unique practices within the park.

The museum shop has a wide range of products, and I'm certain there will be something for everyone.

We didn't have a lot of time, so I'm certain we missed some of the detail; but it was a really interesting...