Sandy Balls is of woods and parkland near the New Forest in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. Located between the village of

Godshill Godshill is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, with a population of 1,459 at the 2011 Census. It lies between Newport and Ventnor in the southeast of the island. History Godshill is one of the ancient parishes that exis ...

and the town of Fordingbridge, it is bounded on the western edge by the River Avon. Now run as a holiday centre, Sandy Balls is owned by Away Resorts.

Name

The estate's name has been traced as far back as the reign of Henry VII. It appeared on maps and other documents of the time as "Sandyballas," which is the description given to the dome-shaped sand and gravel outcrops on the western boundary of the site. Many of these outcrops remain, including ones called Good Friday Hill and Giant's Grave. Due to the estate's name having a humorous sound in Modern English

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

usage, Sandy Balls has been used in various jokes and comedies. On the comedy panel show '' Have I Got News For You'', guest host Alexander Armstrong introduced a promotional video for Sandy Balls that made fun of the resort's name.

History

In 1919 the estate came up for sale to pay for death duties which arose on the death of Sir Edward Hulse in the first World War. Ernest Westlake, an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

stimulated by the ideas and work of

Ernest Thompson Seton Ernest Thompson Seton (born Ernest Evan Thompson August 14, 1860 – October 23, 1946) was an English-born Canadian-American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 (renamed Woodcraft League of America), and one of ...

bought the land as a site for his newly formed youth movement the

Order of Woodcraft Chivalry The Order of Woodcraft Chivalry is a scouting-like movement operating in the United Kingdom, which was founded in 1916 by Ernest Westlake. It was inspired by Ernest Thompson Seton's Woodcraft Indians, and Seton was its honorary Grand Chieftain. Wh ...

. After the death of Ernest his son Aubrey Westlake carried on his ideas and the forerunner of

Forest School Camps Forest School Camps (FSC) is an organization that is aimed primarily at children between the ages of 6 and 17. FSC has camps running throughout the year, the main ones lasting 13 nights during late July and August, with one week and weekend camps a ...

was established. The first Head master was Cuthbert Rutter, Aubrey's cousin. The estate also served as a home for

Grith Fyrd Grith Fyrd was a radical alternative educational movement in England during the 1930s. It created two permanent work camps, one at Godshill in Hampshire and the other at Shining Cliff in Derbyshire, which took in unemployed men and tried to use t ...

during the 1930s.

Development into a holiday centre

In 1934, 12 simply furnished camping huts were built and next year the first brochure was produced, entitled "Sandy Balls for the Beauty Spot Holiday". As the original aim of Aubrey Westlake was to use the location to provide a simple, low cost holiday for families, the original cabins were placed among the trees.

War years

During the war the estate served as temporary accommodation for evacuees and for families whose main bread winner was on active service. A large air raid shelter was built and a Red Cross post established.

Continued development

Through the 1950s and 1960s the Westlake family continued the location's development as a holiday centre. Accommodations were greatly extended and a restaurant and shop were added (with the latter two locations using produce grown on the estate). In the 1980s the holiday centre was extensively developed and modernised by Richard Westlake. In 2007 a major redevelopment was carried out, making the central area into a piazza and adding the bistro restaurant and adding new retail spaces including the bike hire shop. A new reception building was built with a roof covered with sedums and other plants. In 2017 ownership was transferred from the Westlake family to Away Resorts Limited.Companies House 2017 Confirmation Statement for Sandy Balls Estate LImited

Environment

The area has a wide range of wildlife and approximately 75% of the site is covered with vegetation which has been very carefully managed to allow

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

to flourish. A steep path runs down to the River Avon.