Equipped with wellies, raincoats, and plastics bags for the cameras, we explore the saturated New Forest. You would never had guessed that it was July!

The New Forest, England, July 2012

A pair of tourists marvel at the burst river.

After the rain calmed down we took our first steps out to survey the area and plan a route.

A collection of trees surrounded by floodwater.

By this point we realise that the water becomes too deep even for wellies! We have to walk along instead of across.

The ponies feed on the lush grass across the floods. Unfortunately we can’t get any closer to them.

Further down the river the ponies gallop in the waterlogged grass. This feels, to me, like a glimpse of the English wild from a bygone era.

We stumble across a herd of ponies on our side of the floods. They are very comfortable with us, and come trotting over in curiousity.

A mum and her foal.

A more watchful herd member.

We leave the New Marshes, on our way a pony emerges out of the branches like a fairy tale.

We discover the swollen river at dusk.