A PACKED week of Heritage Open Days is coming to the Forest of Dean from September 6 to September 15.
The Heritage Open Days is an event held every September, which hopes to bring as many members of the community together as possible. It aims to showcase the land’s rich history and teach residents and tourists about the area.
It is a completely free national festival, with the Forest of Dean as just one of many amazing community regions to explore.
The Forest’s week kicks off at 10am, September 6, with the Deputy Gaveller in his Bank Street Office. Dan Howell is the King’s representative dealing with gales and mines.
At 11am, a talk entitled “The Land Between Two Rivers” will be held at The Main Place, Coleford, and given by Janet Marrott who is one of the organisers and volunteers of the week.
Janet said: “The theme this year is routes, connections and networks, which is why I started with the rivers. Then we’ll go onto the stone age, the Roman age.
“We’ll start out with the routes, then try to work out what connects with it, and that’s the way we’ve built the whole thing. Like going through the history, starting with the two rivers and the story - Land of Myth and Magic - we’ve got standing stones, we’ve had the druids. The connections between us is amazing really.”
Janet added that the event is highly community-driven and the week is incredibly important for residents to know the history of their home, as well as tourism - which is critical to the Forest of Dean.
She said: “We look at every aspect if we can to teach people about the history and the heritage of this area. It teaches people who move into the area and teaches people who have been born here.”
There are around 30 different activities, talks and tours on offer throughout the week, so visitors are advised to plan ahead. Some may also require advanced booking due to space limitations.
However, despite its popularity, the Open Days have become more difficult to maintain. The team are volunteers and the costs incurred for things like promotional material have increased over the years - meaning the organisation is looking for help in any way it can. Sponsorships, volunteers and hosts are needed.
Janet said: “We really need hosts. We have trouble getting them and some won’t allow us in for free. Of course, what we’d really love too is sponsorships. Since the National Trust took it over, it started as a one day event and I was asked to do a walk around Coleford.
“From there, it developed into a weekend; Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then it went to two weekends. Then when it reached 25 years, they decided they can make a ten day event out of that!
“For the first couple of years, it was funded by the District Council but then leisure was no longer a necessary thing to be carried out being paid for out of the rates.”
Since 2002, Heritage Open Days in the Forest of Dean has been coordinated by Coleford Area MCTI Partnership with income solely from lettings of the Coleford Community Enterprise Centre. It relies on donations, financial help from the Foresters’ Forest Heritage Lottery Funding and input from the volunteers themselves.
If you want to help out, you can get in touch with the Forest of Dean Heritage Open Days via their social media pages or call 01594 836469. Planning for Heritage Open Days begins as early as January.
You can also find a full list of the events online.
