Sunday, June 23, 2013

Missy


Missy
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

Sleepy Donkette


Sleepy Donkette
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Snakecatcher


The Snakecatcher
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.


Harry ‘Brusher’ Mills 1840 – 1905: New Forest snake catcher

Harry ‘Brusher’ Mills was an eccentric figure, drawing tourists to the New Forest, where he lived, from all around to listen to his wisdom and country lore, and have their photographs taken with him. Brusher became a folk hero whose chosen profession was far removed from the growing materialism of the age. He was the New Forest snake catcher.

Harry Mills was born on 19 March 1840 and lived at Emery Down near Lyndhurst until at least 1861. By the mid-1870s he had become the snake catcher in the woodlands near Sporelake Lawn, not far from Brockenhurst, living in a mud hut of his own construction.

Mills had no fear of adders, catching them with his bare hands. An adder bite can be treated by an ointment made from the adder itself and before medical aid was readily available, New Forest residents went to the snake catcher if they’d been bitten. Those that weren’t used to produce ointment were sent to London Zoo to provide food for the animals.

Harry Mills took time off from his unusual occupation whenever a cricket match was played at Balmer Lawn and became a familiar figure as he carefully swept the pitch between innings, acquiring his nickname of ‘Brusher’.

This remained his way of life for nearly thirty years by which time an old forest law entitled him to claim the land on which his home stood. He decided to build a more spacious hut to give him greater comfort in his old age but vandals destroyed his new residence just as it neared completion. He never recovered from the shock of seeing his new home in ruins and died soon afterwards in 1905.

Snakecatcher at Brockenhurst


Snakecatcher at Brockenhurst
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Monday, June 10, 2013

Danebury


Danebury
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

Saturday, June 08, 2013

Danebury


Danebury
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

Friday, June 07, 2013

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Monday, June 03, 2013

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Saturday, June 01, 2013