Upcoming events, things to do and businesses to support in Lymington and the New Forest
Sign up below to receive as weekly e-newsletter direct to your email inbox.
Dashing On - This Sunday!
Before dashing on I must make mention of last night's glorious 'Cold Moon', which rose into very welcome clear skies after all the deluges, and will have have helped to light the way home for many folk who were out and about after dusk, including me out on the forest rather late with the dog!
Also, this morning, HOT OFF THE PRESS, enormous congratulations to Balmer Lawn Hotel which has won the Food and Drink Award at last night's Brilliance in Business Awards, and to hotel joint owner Alison Wilson who won the Personal Achievement Award! The Head Chef at Balmer Lawn has just completed 10 years service and also retained their 2 AA rosettes which is fantastic news too. More on that with plenty of pictures to tempt us all to book a meal at Balmer Lawn, next week!
Right, back to dashing...
Susie Kyd has multiple sclerosis and will be using walking sticks to take part in Sunday's Santa Dash - at her own speed and in her own time. "I had planned on doing it when I turned 50 in 2020 - but a massive MS relapse stopped that happening. I now need 2 sticks to walk, and that’s with difficulty. I imagine I may be the last past the finishing line, 3km will be like walking a marathon for me - how different from the treks I used to do not so long ago!" Susie is hoping to fundraise lots of money for Oakhaven Hospice. If you'd like to be a part of this fun annual tradition but are not making your own Dash, do consider making a donation to Susie's and help spur her on in her Santa suit! Click here for the Santa Dash lowdown.
Then next week, Oakhaven's Light up a Life services take place in Beaulieu, Hythe, Lymington and Brockenhurst - see details in the Diary section below. I may mention this again nearer to Christmas: recognising only too well that Christmas can intensify feelings of loss and sadness for those who are grieving, Oakhaven has published on its website a helpful article: Coping with Grief at Christmas. Please feel free to forward (this newsletter or the link) to anyone you feel might benefit from this.
Introducing New Forest Escapes
You'll soon be hearing more from me about this lovely, locally based, locally and independently owned, holiday cottage company! To holidaymakers New Forest Escapes offers a very special collection of luxury holiday cottages, and to owners an individual and flexible partnership to maximise the letting potential of their holiday homes. The cottages are a handpicked collection, some with pools and hot tubs (see Offers below too!), some with sea views, some with acres of outdoor space, some with all of the above!
If you're buying a holiday home to use part of the time yourself, or looking for a revenue opportunity with a property you already own, do take the opportunity of a totally no obligation chat. Even if right now you're simply thinking ahead to future plans, you'll find Jane and her team are also full of helpful tips which will be invaluable in helping you to take the next steps. Get in touch now!
Wreathmaking and Celebrating, with Scott Bailey
Scott Bailey Solicitors are celebrating - they've just won the Financial & Professional Services Company of the Year award at the 2025 Hampshire Business Awards, which reward organisations that 'demonstrate strong leadership, innovation, performance and positive community impact'.
And the team from Scott Bailey's offices in Lymington have been impacting the local community in a myriad of ways already in the build up to this Christmas! Above are pictured the proud ladies with their just completed festive wreaths following a most enjoyable wreath making workshop evening this week, organised by Scott Bailey and held at Oakhaven's Coates Centre, from which the proceeds after costs all go to Oakhaven Hospice. Scott Bailey is also sponsoring the Santa suits and entering a team of runners, for the Santa Dash!
CELEBRATING AND WREATHMAKING - READ HERE
Remember for Next Year!
Best kept Christmas secret! Last week's Pilley the Kid was considered by many the very best pantomime yet produced by the Pilley Players. The annual Christmas entertainment in Boldre Hall was ultimately a sell-out show, but if you would like the chance to kick start next year's Christmas season with a lot of laughs, remember to book early for the Pilley Panto!
Angel voices rang out! It's hard to do justice to this without sound effects but amongst all the lovely musical entertainments which took place during last weekend's fabulous Christmas Tree Festival was a 50-strong choir of Colten Care home residents, family members and staff: the Colten Care singers, featuring 35 residents from five New Forest homes, sang carols and other Yuletide music and the highlight was John Rutter’s sacred choral piece Angels’ Carol, beginning: Have you heard the sound of the angel voices, ringing out so sweetly, ringing out so clear? Fiona Pritchard, Colten's Music & Arts Partner and herself a brilliant musician as well as the kindest of souls, rehearsed small groups in individual homes beforehand and they all came together for the first time for the performance: "When the residents sang Angel’s Choir, the audience was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. One lady told me that it had given her goosebumps to hear it.”
Plenty More Christmas Events & Entertainments to Come
Christmas at Palace House at Beaulieu is rather different this year - the palace is literally full of pantomime! Welcomed by the masked figures of Harlequin and Columbine in the entrance hall, visitors then set off on a journey around the stately rooms all bedecked with immersive soundscapes, decorations galore and multi-colour projections. In the portrait gallery you meet the pantomime animals, in the dining hall a fantastical midnight banquet is set up, the lower drawing room is a 'playing space' for the children, the library is the backstage area for performers, the turret bedroom is taken by Pucinella, one of the Zanni servant characters from the commedia dell'arte - and so on through each of the rooms! Appropriate nibbles are served outside in the courtyard. As always, the entry price includes all the attractions so there is almost certain to be something to appeal to all members of the family at Beaulieu this Christmas!
Tomorrow it's the Christmas Craft and Gift Fair at Lymington Community Centre, a great opportunity to tick off the necessary items such as cards and gift wrap, and to find thoughtful, individual gifts too. In addition Tidal Boutique will be open for pre loved clothing and accessories, and there's a special feature of a wonderful Christmas Model Railway Display. This is a win win opportunity to contribute funds to the Centre, which needs our support more than ever to continue providing us with its wonderful facilities, by day and evening all year round!
Entry to the craft and gift fair is though Free, and there's Free Parking in NFDC car parks tomorrow as well, to support Small Business Saturday. So with the Saturday Market filling the High Street and the wonderful array of independent shops open through to early evening, this could be your Big Christmas Shopping Day!
On the other hand we are now in the season of Advent which is supposed to be a time for reflection; most of us will be too busy to remember this, but maybe let's take a little time out during the next couple of weeks, and try!
Best wishes Jane
Read the rest of this week's newsletter here
And check out What's On in the Diary of Upcoming Events!
Opt to receive Weekly What's On e-newsletter
Never miss out! Weekly What's On is sent out as an e-newsletter weekly on Friday mornings, click here to receive it direct to your inbox week in and week out, and never miss out on What's On and Coming Up!
