Weekly What's On Friday 9 October 2026
Season of Mists - and More
There may not be a great deal of mellow fruitfulness after this year's long dry summer, but the first autumn mist certainly lingered over the start of last Sunday's morning's 'Run Beaulieu'. It then quickly cleared to reveal a glorious summer's day, which evolved into a perfect melange of sport, community and fundraising for very special local charity the Countryside Education Trust.
A couple of days later everything changed and we're all rummaging for waterproofs one day, hats and gloves the next! And now it really does feel as though Autumn has arrived... the Geese have been Gathering awhile and will surely soon be Gone!
Lymington: Britain’s Most Dog Friendly Town?
The New Forest Dog Owners Group is a small not for profit group run entirely by volunteers, promoting responsible dog owners and representing them on a variety of issues in the New Forest. It has around 1,000 members so far and among its activities runs a fast response 'Lost Dog' service across social media and its own app. Find out more here...
The group has also entered Lymington in a national competition to find Britain’s most dog friendly town. The winner is chosen by a public vote and the deadline is this coming Sunday, so if you think Lymington deserves this accolade (and are happy to see ever more dogs around!) do vote now!
VOTE LYMINGTON AS MOST DOG FRIENDLY TOWN
Other News and Upcoming Events
The finalists for this year's New Forest Brilliance in Business Awards have this week been announced, including my absolute favourite jewellers Buchanans (independent retailer), the wonderful Balmer Lawn Hotel and New Forest Academy of Dance (training & development); New Forest Disability Information Service and Força Strength Against Cancer (charity); St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery (sustainable business); Royal Lymington Yacht Club (marine) and Oakhaven Care (business growth). And Holly Mitchell, Scott Bailey is a finalist in Apprentice of the Year. For the full list click here.
A mention for the New Forest Disability Information Service local advice hubs - these ‘Pop-up’ Hubs in towns across the area provide a wealth of information. Drop in for a chat with disability-related questions in Lymington, Lyndhurst, Hythe, Totton and Ringwood. Click here and scroll down for upcoming days and locations.
A mention too for the Nerine Exhibition at Exbury Gardens which runs until the end of this month. Originally found on Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town in South Africa, 'jewel lilies' flower in a spectrum of colours from their original oranges, scarlet and white through new purples, pinks, mauves, reds, scarlets, copper and bronzes. They scintillate in the sunshine with gold or silver crystalline flecks that make their petals sparkle. Lovely! Scroll down for a picture.
If you're a cider lover, you'll want to join in this weekend's New Forest Cider Festival, at the home of New Forest Cider in Burley, where you can not only celebrate the cider-making harvest but also watch vintage presses in action, browse local crafts, and enjoy live music as well as great food and drink as the farm comes alive for autumn.
As half term draws closer, next week we'll take a look at some of what's on offer locally for the first holiday week of the new school year.
Meanwhile as we embrace the new season in its varied hues, I hope you enjoy 'Ode To Autumn' below. If you've time, take a couple of minutes and try reading it aloud - it's quite a challenge but rather satisfying, and mindful too!
Best wishes Jane
To Autumn
John Keats 1795 – 1821
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Written September 19, 1819; first published in 1820. This poem is in the public domain.
Read the rest of this week's newsletter here
And check out What's On in the Diary of Upcoming Events!
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