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Pony Express: Mum, daughter and cute foals galore on a New Forest cycling escape

Published: 07:32 EST, 23 July 2013 | Updated: 07:32 EST, 23 July 2013

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As a working mother with three young children, nobody gets much of my time, particularly my eldest daughter, May. There is always a younger child’s bedtime story to read, a tantrum to resolve, a call from the office, an email to send, a meal to cook or a six-year old who refuses to brush her teeth.

So to celebrate May’s ninth birthday, I promised that we would go on a special weekend together, and decided upon a bicycling break in the New Forest.

All roads lead to Hampshire: May gets to grips with her bicycle for the weekend

It could not have been a better choice, helped by the fantastic combination of a heatwave, a fabulous family hotel – and an area with such bad mobile reception that the outside world can only sporadically intrude upon the bliss.

Specifically the bliss of being just an hour and 20 minutes by train from London, but also in the middle of a forest with only butterflies, crickets and my first-born for company.

Throw in a mum-and-daughter version of the girls’ night in – the joy of sharing a double bed with fresh sheets on Saturday night, eating puddings (treacle tart for me; chocolate brownies with ice cream for May) and watching Mamma Mia, rather than another Peppa Pig compilation with her two younger siblings – and the perfect escape was complete.

Foal play: Becky and May encountered numerous ponies on their weekend cycle route - much to May's delight

We started our trip by catching the train to Brockenhurst in the heart of the New Forest (which was so much better than driving).

We were already in a good mood as the train pulled out of Waterloo, making intricate plans to fill our journey playing backgammon or cards, and reading our books together.

At Brockenhurst, we had pre-booked bicycles to hire from Cyclexperience – their base is located in a quaint green bunker right next door to the station.

They provided us with two nearly new bikes, maps of good local cycling routes and all the extras we would need if calamity struck (a puncture repair kit, a pump and so on).

Better still, you can bicycle around the New Forest directly from Brockenhurst, without having to deal with a busy main road. From the station, you are almost immediately on Mill Lane, which takes you to the starting point for many of the good cycle routes.

City escape: Just an hour and 20 minutes from London by train lands you in the New Forest's heart

On our first day, we bicycled to Beaulieu (pronounced ‘Bew-lee’ – something I wish I had known in advance, to avoid flummoxing people with my strange attempt at a French pronunciation).

The trip was about 13 miles which, to May’s absolute delight, involved passing a large number of New Forest ponies and their foals.

Despite being a committed lover of horses, it was the first time that she had seen a foal, and was wildly excited all weekend about each one that we found. And there were a lot.

In fact, the whole trip became something of a nature trail: invasions of red ants during our picnic lunches; stopping to try to catch a little frog which May spotted; admiring the many butterflies; taking another photograph of a foal. And another one.

One of the loveliest things about the forest’s cycle trails is that, as you roll along them, there is a good chance you will not see anybody else, even on the hottest weekend of the year. While the campsites were frantically busy, these leafy lanes were not.

Following A Cycle Route Around Brockenhurst, New Forest National Park

Saddle up: The region has plenty of easy-to-follow cycling trails

On each of our two days, we spent the majority of our time in the saddle and on our own, meeting only the occasional group of school children doing an outward bound course.

The routes are numbered on the maps, so that, at regular intervals, you can check that you are heading in the correct direction by consulting the numbered wooden posts staked into the ground alongside. I have a tendency to be geographically dyslexic, but even I lost my bearings on only a few select occasions – and even then, not disastrously.

And so to our hotel. The New Park Manor, just outside Brockenhurst, is a beautiful red-brick building which looks like a lovely large family home, and is still run in this spirit.

On arrival, we were greeted by Daisy, the hotel’s resident whippet. For May and I, who are both obsessed with dogs, this could not have been a more auspicious welcome.

Splash happy: The New Park Manor Hotel welcomes families with young children

It is a small hotel, with only 21 bedrooms, and part of the Luxury Family Hotels chain (an idea which I wish I had known about when I was sleep-deprived mother of three children under five).

I can imagine many parents who would turn up at one of these establishments – to be greeted by the sign explaining that the hotel will pick up your children from your room at 8am and look after them until 9.30am while you have a lie-in – actually weeping with excitement and gratitude, perhaps right there in reception.

Family magic: New Park Manor's indoor swimming pool

At New Park Manor, there is a cinema room, a board-games room, a croquet set (although they need to buy more balls, as only one was left when we played, making a game impossible), a badminton set, a large play area and a trampoline.

There are also two swimming pools, small football nets on the lawn and children’s books for bedtime.

Most importantly, there is an atmosphere which welcomes families, rather than one that makes a parent feel mortified by a child’s bad behaviour.

Pudding heaven: Treacle tart and chocolate brownies were among the desserts on offer

Many of the other visitors were either weary couples with a toddler and a tiny baby, or three generations of a family. This struck me as a lovely way for grandparents to spend time with their children and grandchildren without anybody having to cook or wash up.

The food was very good, the venue for our supper on Saturday night – a table outside, with a view onto fields and forest – even better (while the treacle tart was memorable).

My only frustration was that the wonderful spa attached to the hotel was full, so I could not trial any of the long list of treatments.

But as we sank into giant bean bags in the garden, concealed in the shade of a large tree – with newspapers and books to read, and a friendly waitress to deliver ice-cold water – neither of us really felt that we needed help to relax.