The Forest of Dean

Tuesday 23rd August 2022

With a day to spare in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley before continuing my trek along Offa’s Dyke Path I thought I would revisit the walk that I did in the Forest of Dean at Christmas 2011. This was the only time I had previously been in the area and since it was not at its best then, being mid-winter, I thought a return was worthwhile. A short drive from Cherry Orchard Farm campsite took me through Coleford to the car park near Speech House Hotel where I had parked previously. The drizzly rain that had plagued my previous day’s walk was in evidence again as I left my car and copying my walk of 2011 I headed down the straight avenue of Spruce Ride. The rain soon stopped and after a short distance along the forestry track I came to Speech House Lake, which I remembered seeing on my previous walk. Continuing along Spruce Ride I passed the crossroads formed by an old railway line, now a cycle track, and onto a good all-weather path where previously I remember the ground was very muddy. My 2011 route climbed steeply up to Staple-edge Bungalows, but this time I decided to turn right at the foot of the climb and follow the bottom of the valley, which I found relaxing walking with clear views up and down the valley that included young deciduous trees and a hint of blue sky above.

At the bottom of the path I reached Mallards Pike Lake, which was a lovely place for me to slowly wander around while the sun began to break through the clouds and provided me with good pictures across the lake. Going into this holiday I was feeling very stressed and tired, and it was taking me a while to recover so on this walk I wanted to further that goal by taking my time and absorbing the natural surroundings as much as possible. Standing beside this lake in the sunshine with the trees surrounding I felt the tension slowly unwind from within me. Leaving Mallards Pike Lake I returned to my 2011 route and crossed a road into an area that previously I remembered having few trees, but was now more overgrown, though this robbed me of some of the views. After crossing a road I reached a narrower, more natural, path that was much nicer to walk on than the bulldozed forestry tracks of earlier, but soon I reached another road and after a short walk along the road opposite I reached a turning onto a cycle path that I had taken previously. However, this time I ignored it so I could find something that my map called New Fancy View. At a car park I turned off the road and onto a path that climbed to a viewpoint where I had extensive views across the Forest of Dean.

The sun had been hiding since I left Mallards Pike Lake, but it now reappeared to provide me with beautiful views across the woodland. It was interesting for me to learn that this was the site of New Fancy coal mine and the viewpoint is at the top of the old spoil heap, which I would never have guessed. Returning back down to the car park I made my way to the cycle path and followed that for a while until eventually I reached the southern end of Cannop Ponds. My onward route was north, but soon I decided that I wanted to turn around so I could take in the view from right at the foot of the pond. Eventually I headed north again and followed the shore of the pond until I reached a picnic site between the two ponds where I stopped to have my lunch while the weather varied from rain to sunshine. With the sun shining again and affording me with good views across Upper Cannop Pond I crossed the dam and headed up a narrow path that climbs steeply up the hillside. Since reaching Cannop Ponds I was on the route of the Beechenhurst Trail with posts that marked the route for me, although on occasions they failed and I was left scratching my head as to the direction to take.

After crossing Speech House Road the trail passed into open woodland and completely disappeared. It should have been easy for me to follow as the trail at this point keeps to a right-of-way, but this was also not well signposted so I had to keep checking my location to ensure I was going in the right direction. At one point I missed my turning and had to retrace my steps, but eventually I found my way down to Cannop Brook, past the route of an old railway line, now a cycle path, and up towards the large Beechenhurst car park where large numbers of people were following a Sculpture Trail. Since it was only two o’clock and my walk was almost finished I decided to do the Sculpture Trail myself, so with the leaflet downloaded on my phone I set off along the well signposted trail back up the hill. However, I had a lot of difficulty finding the first sculpture and there were one or two others that also seemed to be either missing or so well blended into the environment that I couldn’t see them. Slowly I made my way around the trail and even though most of the sculptures held no interest for me the trail at least took me through areas of the Forest of Dean that I had not previously seen and the most interesting sculptures were those that hinted something about the industrial past of the area, which is usually very well hidden unless you are told.

The most remarkable sculpture was near the end of the trail, called Cathedral, and featured a large stained glass window hanging from posts in the middle of the wood. After passing the final sculpture I rejoined the route of the Beechenhurst Trail and entered Cyril Hart Arboretum, which contains a vast collection of different trees and was a joy to walk through, so I wish that I had stopped and spent some time exploring the area but instead I passed through and returned to the car park. This was an enjoyable and relaxing walk through wonderful woodland that provided me with exactly the medicine I needed to refresh my spirit. The Beechenhurst Trail is too short for me, so I had extended it using my 2011 walk and even then it was too short, but with the addition of the Sculpture Trail I had a fabulous walk through the Forest of Dean.