Common people: the New Forest women following ancient tradition

Three commoners explain why keeping 1,000-year-old farming practices alive is worth more than money

Photographs by Peter Flude

A five-inch stack of old Telegraph newspapers is perched on the front seat of the bashed-up Subaru, while in the back is a long stick for fending off cows. At the wheel is Ann Sevier, a 13th generation commoner whose family has lived in the New Forest since 1650.

Hello everybody!" she yells to the livestock as she pulls up in the car. We are in Latchmore valley near Fordingbridge, where more than a hundred cows and horses have gathered in the cool breeze that tumbles off the surrounding hills, providing respite from biting insects (behaviour known locally as shading"). It resembles a congregation of animals you might see around a waterhole, except the horses have letters branded on their backs.