Authenticity Part One - Living in the New Forest

Authenticity is the unique secret sauce I bring to my New Forest Crime Drama series.

I write about Hep Anderssen, a journalist who works on a local paper in the New Forest because that’s where I started my career. I left college and joined the local newspaper based in New Milton, as a trainee reporter and spent three years writing about the goings on and happenings in this lovely part of the world. I spent a lot of time with the local police, in the magistrates’ courts and the council buildings. I wrote obituaries, wedding reports and flower shows. I know the people and this area really, really well.

This reality is important, because if you do an internet search for the New Forest you will see thatched cottages, New Forest ponies, grazing donkeys and read about commoners who have the ancient right to access the land. And whilst this is a big part of living in the National Park, it only represents a small proportion of the people who live there. There are far more people who live ordinary lives in this special place, and I was one of those.

Growing up I didn’t have a pony, my parents didn’t let their pigs out to pannage in the autumn or their stallions to look for mares in the spring. We lived in Ashley, I went to Ashley Junior School, Arnewood Comprehensive in New Milton and Brockenhurst College. My dad was the local milkman and then bus driver and my mum worked in an office on a New Milton industrial estate. My brother played football and cricket for the team in Bashley.

The New Forest is a rural area that relies heavily on tourism so there can be a lack of opportunity, hardships and poverty and I bring that realism to my books. Not just the chocolate box view that’s presented on the tourism websites, but what it’s really like for people who live in the New Forest which is the same for people all over the country that live in rural communities. I hope you feel that when you read my books.