The New Forest Tour

The Tour

The New Forest Tour is running every day from Saturday 18th July to Monday 31st August. 

It’s a hop on hop off service, so get off wherever you like and catch the next Tour, or switch between routes, all on the same ticket! 

You will enjoy some fantastic views from the top deck of an open-top bus of the New Forest National Park with pretty villages and magical landscapes, animals of the New Forest such as deer, rare birds, pigs, donkeys and of course the famous ponies.

The New Forest Tour Onboard Commentary

Each route has its own interesting unique audio commentary with characters and sounds which tell the stories of the people and places of the New Forest.

You will hear the stories of the people, places and animals of the New Forest with characters, sounds and music, bringing the view to life.

Tickets and Routes

One ticket three routes, The New Forest Tour combines three routes into one ticket. The red route, known as the wild northwest runs through Burley, Fordingbridge and Lyndhurst. The green route, known as the beautiful southeast, runs through Brockenhurst, Lymington and Beaulieu and the blue route is known as the coastal southwest run through Burley, Barton on Sea, Milford on Sea and Lymington.

Tickets are available either on the New Forest Tour website, onboard from the driver or alternatively for the smartphone savvy using the clickit2ride mobile app. Card payments are preferred.

The New Forest Tour and Burley

Burley is an ideal place to start and end the tour as both the Red and Blue route pass through. There is ample parking in the village centre. Burley also makes a great base for refreshments. There are village pubs and tea rooms ideal before, during or after the tour. Not forgetting, of course, a little trip to Burley Fudge Shop! 

Burley also makes a great stop for some beautiful forest walks or cycle hire.

Covid-19

New Forest Tour has the “Good to Go” mark. This is the official UK mark to signal that a tourism and hospitality business has worked to follow Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines. 

All passengers are required to wear face masks when travelling unless exemptions apply.

Go New Forest Card

Normally tour bus ticket holders can benefit from the discounts offered by a Go New Forest Card for the day of their ticket, unfortunately to the COVID situation we understand that benefit is not available this year. 

However, we are pleased to announce that you can still enjoy this benefit in Burley Fudge Shop. Just present your New Forest Tour ticket and receive a free 200g bag of fudge when spending £10 or over. Valid on day of the ticket only.

Bicycles

The buses have space for up to four bicycles at a time or alternatively there are some fantastic bicycle hire outlets in Brockenhurst (Cycle Experience) and Burley (New Forest Cycle Hire)

Tours run daily, with a choice of three routes: Red (the wild northwest), Green (the beautiful southeast) and the Blue (the coastal southwest).

Further details

The New Forest Tour 

Go New Forest Card

The New Forest Website

Burley Fudge & Wave 105 Competition

Burley Fudge Shop and Wave 105 partnered recently in a Facebook competition for some Burley Fudge Gift Vouchers.

The competition

The competition was posted on the Wave 105 Facebook page as follows:

***Win*** Stock up your cupboards with some sugary pick me ups, thanks to Burley Fudge Shop in The New Forest! They produce a wide range of fudge textures and flavours and can also cater for Dairy Free, Gluten Free and Vegans. We have three great prizes to be won £100, £50 and £25 to spend online. Simply comment below with #burleyfudge and we’ll pick three winners.

The Prizes

The competition had three prizes as follows:

1st Prize – Burley Fudge Shop £100 Gift Voucher

2nd Prize – Burley Fudge Shop £50 Gift Voucher

3rd Prize – Burley Fudge Shop £25 Gift Voucher 

The Engagement

The results were amazing! The Facebook post reached over 40,000 people. Nearly 3,000 engaged with the post in a variety of ways including liking, sharing and commenting. In total, the competition received 733 entries, which is a fantastic level of engagement. 

A huge thank you to everyone that took the time to enter, and also a huge thank you to Wave 105 for organising the competition.

The Winners

The winners were drawn by Wave 105 as follows:

1st Prize Kelly Tarrant

2nd Prize Carole Valet

3rd Prize Karl Bullen

All prizes were redeemed very quickly and were either personally delivered by Chris from Burley Fudge Shop or collected in store. All prize winners were happy to share a picture with their prize. Please see below for images:

1st prize

1st prize Kelly Tarrant in the Burley Fudge Wave 105 Competition

2nd Prize

2nd Prize Carole Valet in the Burley Fudge Wave 105 Competition

3rd Prize

3rd Prize Karl Bullen in the Burley Fudge Wave105 Competition

Thank You

Once again a huge thank you to everyone that entered. Please keep an eye both on the Burley Fudge Shop Facebook page and the Wave 105 Facebook page for future competitions.

Cash For Kids Fundraiser

Burley Fudge Shop has also partnered with the Wave105 Cash For Kids fundraiser. Full details on how to contribute to this fundraiser are available on the following link. As of Friday 10th July we have raised nearly £400. We are extremely grateful for your support.

Best Wishes Chris & Jenny Tabb

End of Term Teachers Gifts

It’s recently been an incredibly challenging time for many people in particular for children, parents and of course their teachers, working in exceptionally challenging environments to keep children safe and to provide the benefits that education the school environment brings.

Cash For Kids Charity

We at Burley Fudge Shop are trying to do our bit both in terms of keeping our small tourist business going and supporting the community as much as possible. As such we have recently started supporting Wave105’s “Cash For Kids” Charity. Cash for Kids is a national grant-giving charity that supports community groups, charitable organisations, schools and individual causes. It helps young people affected by poverty, abuse, neglect, life-limiting illness and those with additional needs. We have been donating £1 from every online sale and taking donations both in the shop and directly on our Burley Fudge Cash For Kids fundraising page. We have so far raised over £350.

Teachers Gifts

Every year children and their parents often want to show their end of term appreciation to their teachers in some way or other, maybe a simple thank you, a card or maybe a gift. 

This year, as many teachers across the country, have been key workers throughout the last few months and have supported the national effort in the fight against COVID by providing education and a safe environment for key worker children, perhaps more than ever.

Maybe you would like to say an individual thank you or alternatively as some of our local schoolchildren have done group together and make a collective gift from the whole class.

Whether you’re saying goodbye to your primary school teachers as your children head up to secondary school, or you just want to say a big thank you for all their dedication and hard work over the last few months, we’ve created a range of edible gifts to suit a wide range of tastes and budgets that will be a very fitting way to say thank you and at the same time support both a local business and the Cash For Kids charity.

Please take a look at our Teachers Gifts range by clicking here.

If you do need any further help please email me at  or give me a call on my mobile 07920 014320. 

If you chose to order online we offer a next working day fully tracked courier service for orders placed before 9 am, or alternatively if you are near to The New Forest please call into the shop.

 

The Academy For Disabled Journalists

Well, you may be wondering why Burley Fudge Shop has a blog post about The Academy For Disabled Journalists, journalism and accessibility. 

This week I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Terri Shanahan. Terri is a student with The Academy for Disabled Journalists, she also loves The New Forest, Burley and Fudge! and it goes without saying our first meeting was at the Fudge Shop where Teri was a customer. Approximately half an hour after our initial meeting Terri came back and asked if I would help with her assignment, I was delighted to say yes!

The Academy For Disabled Journalists – Background

A little background, Terri clearly has a love for tourism and in fact, once worked for Disney in Florida she has recently been volunteering for an organisation called Ability Today whose founder Grant Logan is focused on what can be done rather than what can’t. 

Ability Today applied for lottery funding to create The Academy for Disabled Journalists which subsequently was approved by the National Council For Training of Journalists. 

This is the first year of the first course which includes about 10 students all with varying abilities. The course needs to be highly tailored. Some of the participants are partially sighted, hard of hearing or have speech difficulties.

Teri’s assignment was to write an article. The article should be about the effect of COVID 19 on local tourism. It should also cover the support offered to local businesses. Finally, the steps being taken to manage the business through the lockdown and beyond.

The Interview

In practice, Terri set up a recorded telephone interview with me. We discussed at length my current pet topics of Burley Fudge Shop, e-commerce and how we managed through the lockdown.

I’m not quite sure who got the most value from the interview. From my own point of view, it gave me the opportunity to look back over the past 3 months.  I realised the extent of what we have achieved.  Our achievements can be summarised firstly, as having a much-improved knowledge of running an e-commerce store. Secondly, a greater understanding of how to deliver the same levels of excellent customer service online as we do in-store. Finally, a fantastic platform for approaching the remainder of the 2020 tourist season, and perhaps, an e-commerce site fit for serving the demands of a busy Christmas season.

From Terri’s point of view, I’m sure she has got some fantastic material for her article. Also, she now has some really useful tourism contacts in the local area for further articles. She commented as follows “I got so much out of today’s interview. It left me feeling positive for the remainder of the day! It was such a delightful interview”. I’m delighted that she is so pleased!

Next Steps

We also discussed some fantastic ideas for further articles. These articles would be based on accessibility in Burley. Personally I think Burley has a lot to offer in this respect. I’m optimistic that this interview and subsequent articles will be a catalyst for improving accessibility and the marketing thereof for Burley and The New Forest.

We are planning to do a further update based on Teri’s finished article.

Teri, good luck and best wishes with your studies. Also a huge thank you to Ability Today without whom The Academy For Disabled Journalists would not exist. 

Burley Fudge Competition June 2020

Burley Fudge Competition Prizes

There are 3 prizes for our June competition they are all Burley Fudge Gift Vouchers:

Prize 1 £100 Gift voucher

Prize 2 £50 Gift Voucher

Prize 3 £25 Gift Voucher

The Rules

This month we have partnered with Wave 105 to run our competition. Please visit our competition post on the Wave105 Facebook page using the following link: Wave105 Facebook  Burley Fudge competition post.

To enter just comment as follows #burleyfudge.

Closing date for entries is Friday 26th June 23:59

Wave 105 will then pick 3 winners at random.

The winners will be announced on our Facebook page week commencing 29th June and vouchers will be sent by email.

Good luck!

Burley Fudge Gift Vouchers

A Burley Fudge Gift Voucher. The perfect gift for someone who you aren’t sure what to buy. Over the years we have had many people request a Burley Fudge Gift Voucher, and we have now created it for you. You can now purchase a gift voucher online under our “voucher” section.

Gift vouchers are for everyone! Whether you have a friend or family member whom you know loves fudge but aren’t sure what flavour they like, or want to surprise someone with a gift! They are the perfect choice. You can also buy them alongside any of our other products. Gift vouchers have been highly sought after by businesses as benefit vouchers for employees. 

How to Order a Gift Voucher Online

Gift Voucher’s come in 3 different price categories. You can purchase a £25, £50 or £100 voucher. To buy one, you need to go into the “voucher” section of our website where three voucher options are displayed. It will then ask you to provide the details of the person you want to send it to and who it is from, which you can tailor and personalise to your preference.

Now for the significant bit…delivery date! We have customised our vouchers so that you can choose when you want them to be delivered. So, if you are a bit like us and revel in organisation, you can buy your voucher with a specific date in mind. For instance, a Birthday or Christmas Day, where a pleasant surprise will appear in their inbox.

On the other hand, if you have forgotten an important date that has crept up on you and you need a last-minute gift, we have you covered! All you need to do is choose a delivery date. The voucher will then be sent on that day. The email will include an image of the gift voucher and a gift code that they can use to redeem against any future purchase from Burley Fudge

Also, you can purchase gift vouchers directly from our Google listing. Donations can be made to a small business funding page, thank you Google!

How to use a Burley Fudge Gift Voucher

Burley Fudge Gift Vouchers allow the recipient to purchase anything on our website. Once it has arrived in their inbox, they need to apply the voucher code to their Burley Fudge account. Then, the recipient can use it for more than one purchase. Once they have added their voucher to their account, they can leave a balance on it, for the future, allowing for multiple spends.

What can I use my Burley Fudge Gift Voucher for?

The person who receives the voucher has full control over how they use it. Whether they buy 3 items for £10 deal, indulge in 12 items for £30 or subscribe to a Fudge of the Month Club. It is entirely up to them! They have access to all our items on the website, including our popular Clotted Cream Fudge and Sea Salted Caramel Fudge

The Origins of Fudge

The origin of fudge is ambiguous, but is traditionally thought to be an American invention; believed to have occurred by accident! 

In Great Britain fudge was referenced in an encyclopaedia from 1920 as  “A sweetmeat that hails from America, but is now popular in other countries also….” It is thought that the earliest reference to fudge was in 1886 in America.

One wonders why it took so long given some other notable confectionery examples have been around for a very long time. For example the ancient Egyptians were enjoying a form of Marshmallows as early as 2000bc, a form of chocolate was being used in Southern Mexico in 450bc and Southern European countries were making Nougat from 15th century.

The earliest reference we can find to fudge was from 1886. 

A letter, found in the archives of Vassar College New York, written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge reveals that Emelyn wrote that her schoolmate’s cousin made fudge in 1886 in Baltimore and sold it for 40 cents a pound.

It is believed that the students of Vassar College would use gaslights, chafing dishes or spirit lamps borrowed from the chemistry lab to melt together the necessary ingredients in their rooms. When they went home on breaks, Vassar girls spread their knowledge of fudge to their families and friends at other schools.

Evelyn went on to found a Boarding School and carried on making fudge for many years to raise funds for the Vassar Book and Gift shop.

However, there is room for disagreement when we consider “Tablet” also know as Scottish Butter Tablet, was first referenced in the 1700’s in a book called “the Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie” Although this is the beginning of another debate, is “fudge” the same as “tablet”…..

Fudge in Burley New Forest

Jumping forward a few centuries, the Fudge Shop in Burley itself has been around since 1980. It was previously a Misselbrook and Weston Grocery Store. However, this was taken over by Mr and Mrs Williams (who are still around today, Mrs Williams is often seen in the village tending to her goats, geese and hens!) in 1980. It was converted into 7 units and unit 2 became the Fudge Shop. Between 1980 and 1998 there were two owners who were both retailers and then in June 1998 Chris and Jenny Tabb took over and decided to become producers as well as retailers. 

Chris and Jenny took on Burley Fudge on the 21st of June 1998, ironically exactly a year before the first “fudge” baby (our daughter, Charley) arrived in 1999. Having both previously had regular careers in finance, they were novices without the faintest idea of how to make fudge. But have always loved a challenge and a fudge shop in the heart of the New Forest sounded like a dream come true, however there have been many nightmare times!. They persevered through thick and thin and have now perfected the range in existence today. The family have worked tirelessly on the product range and developed a Clotted Cream Fudge which we believe is unique in the fudge  world and is certainly highly sought after by our customers.

From here the business blossomed. The range extended from the traditional flavours to an extensive range of over 30 flavours, and we continue to experiment. From Sea Salted Caramel to Chocolate Chilli. In recent years we have even managed to develop a recipe for an Alternative Sugar Fudge and a Dairy Free / Vegan range,  so there really is something for everyone.

For a while we stepped out from the small village shop in the middle of the New Forest, to trading at food shows from small local ones like the New Forest Annual Show to Taste of London at Tobacco Dock and many of the major Uk cities including Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. We’ve even travelled to the Netherlands and still have some Dutch customers! Although this life wasn’t for us and we now dedicate all of our time to the shop and in recent times the online shop! 

One of our most favourable memories at Burley Fudge was providing fudge to the Queen (Yes! Queen Elizabeth herself!), in 2015. The Queen held a launch party for  MV Britannia and enjoyed our Clotted Cream Fudge with 200 guests. 

We are looking forward to adding to our history in a Post Covid world……

Father’s Day Fudge Gifts

Are you looking for Father’s Day Fudge Gifts? It’s fast approaching that time of year when we dedicate a day to celebrating all father figures. Yes folks, Father’s Day is just around the corner (21st of June, for those of you who have forgotten) and I think I speak for a lot of Dad’s when I say we don’t need anymore socks! But Fudge is a different matter…

For all the offspring who are picking their brains attempting to discover that perfect gift for their beloved Father’s, Burley Fudge has got you covered, with a fantastic range of Fathers Day Fudge Gifts.

Every year we pick our own brains to produce a new flavour especially for this occasion, we’re always experimenting so this is nothing new to us.

New Fudge Flavour for Father’s Day 

After interacting with our dedicated customers on Facebook for ideas we had a lot of suggestions; Irish Cream, Rhubarb and Custard and Strawberry and Peppercorn, to name a few! 

With Rum and Raisin Fudge and Maple Walnut Fudge also being popular choices amongst Dad’s, this year the overriding consensus was a Whisky and Ginger Fudge, bringing together flavours we know that will work together and are sure that you will love – we do! By adjusting our traditional recipe, we’ll be combining decadent ginger with bourbon whiskey to create an irresistible, indulgent flavour with an extra little kick. 

Of course, you can buy this in a gift wrapped box or as part of one of our 3 for £10 deals – or 7 for £20 if you feel like spoiling Dad this year – online or in person at the Shop. And you don’t just have to stop with Whiskey and Ginger, you can mix it with any of our best-selling flavours in our deal, Clotted Cream Fudge or Sea Salt Caramel Fudge perhaps? To make the perfect Father’s Day gift. 

Father’s Day Fudge Treat Box

If you’re looking for a bit more variety we’ve compiled a special Fathers Day Treat Box which includes six fudge packs, four sweet packs, a box of shortbread and a selection from our jar range of preserves and chutney. The fudge and sweet packs come in a wide range of flavours.

Fudge Gift Vouchers

To make your decision easier this year we’ve introduced a new section of fudge gift vouchers for you. They come in 3 different denominations and are all themed with a New Forest scene. They’re super easy to order, just fill in the recipients email address a little message from you and you can even specify delivery on Fathers Day!

Dan Burley Fudge Competition Winner

Burley Fudge Shop Treat Box Competition May 2020

As you may have seen on our Burley Fudge Shop Facebook page or via e-mail if you are subscribed to our mailing list, then you will be aware that we ran a competition this week to win a Treat Box (full of £30 worth of goodies!). If you haven’t seen it, don’t worry! You haven’t missed out, based on the success of this one we will be running more in the future. The Treat Box contents are 6 assorted packs of Burley Fudge, 4 packs of assorted sweets, a jar of preserves and a jar of honey.

In order to enter the competition you had to answer the following three questions, all answers were discoverable on the website:

  1. When did Chris and Jenny start making fudge?
  2. What is our current flavour of the month?
  3. What is our favourite frozen fudge?

Burley Fudge Shop Competition Answers

The answers were, 1) 1998, 2) Lemon and Elderflower Fudge and 3) Sea Salt Caramel Fudge. We had an overwhelming amount of responses total 188, 58 by Facebook Messenger and 130 via email. A vast number of these were correct, 181 to be precise. The competition ended at midnight Wednesday 27th May and we wrote down all the names onto paper and placed them into a bowl, recording a video on facebook to announce the winner on Thursday 28th May. Everyone was thanked personally for entering the competition,

Burley Fudge Shop Competition Results

And the winner was Dan Wilson, he’s already commented on Facebook “Honestly I haven’t stopped smiling all morning”. 

We’d like to say a massive congratulations to Dan, your treat box will be shipped today and be with you tomorrow. 

Thank you to everyone who entered, we appreciate all of your responses and we are sorry that you didn’t win on this occasion. But, keep your eyes peeled for similar upcoming competitions. 

A huge thank you to all who continue to support us, whether it is by liking or sharing our Facebook/ Instagram posts; purchasing from us online or in person; letting your friends know; or saying a simple hello as you walk past us in the Village. We are extremely grateful for your support and happy to have such a wonderful community of customers that we can continue to supply yummy fudge to!

The Winner

This is what Dan had to say when he received his prize “I found Burley Fudge on the way to Bournemouth with my wife. When she was growing up she had many day trips to Burley with her family and describes it as her happy place. We had a day there and due to my love of fudge we stopped in Burley Fudge Shop. Such a friendly atmosphere and a huge selection of the best fudge around made it the highlight of the trip. Despite buying 6 different flavours of fudge we had to stop on the way back through as I’d eaten far too much already”

Thank you very much Dan, we’re delighted for you and we are so pleased that you love Burley, and Burley Fudge. Best Wishes Chris & Jenny

Dan Burley Fudge Competition Winner

 

Best Wishes Chris & Jenny Tabb

 

Fudge Competition May 2020

 

The prize for our fudge competition in May 2020 is a Treat Box, they retail at £30, so quite a nice prize 🙂

The Questions

  1. What year did Chris & Jenny start producing fudge?
  2. What is our current Flavour of The Month?
  3. What is our favourite Frozen Fudge?

All answers are available on the website, but will require a little bit of research.

The Rules

Please submit answers before midnight Wednesday 27th May by email or Facebook messenger, just a list of the answers are required no further details, we will contact the winner by email or messenger and arrange shipping details. All correct answers will be in a draw Thursday 28th am and the winning name (no other details) will be published on Facebook. Treat box will arrive Friday 29th. We would like to share your picture with prize on our social media.

Happy hunting!