I recently came across a feature in the Good Housekeeping Magazine. It’s not a publication that I would usually read, but this item jumped out at me uninvited as I switched on my computer the other day. It’s entitled ‘6 Reasons to visit the Forest of Dean’, which I clearly could not ignore. It’s written by the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team who have ventured into the world of tourism, and I was intrigued enough to read this unexpected commentary on the Forest by a writer who had never been to the Forest before. The author was clearly captivated by this visit to the Forest, and selected 6 items that most impressed her, which were firstly the Forest itself, four of the special locations in the forest that she had discovered, and the opportunity to cycle in this special area.

It is an interesting and positive item which might encourage tourism to the forest. She describes the Forest as being ‘an historical, cultural and geographical area situated in the western part of Gloucestershire, contained within borders created by the River Wye, Herefordshire, the River Severn and the city of Gloucester’. With all four of her locations, including the farmhouse where she stayed, being west of the Coleford to Chepstow B4228 road, the writer’s locations were restricted to the Wye Valley part of the Forest, including an extra-forestrial visit to the riverside Tintern Abbey, just on the other side of the Wye.

She stayed at the ‘Tudor Farmhouse’ at Clearwell, one of the 6 ‘reasons’, and was greatly impressed with the elegance and tastefulness of the décor. She says that the Tudor Farmhouse is the only place to stay in the Forest, which being made after only one visit to the Forest is the one assertion in the feature that must be quickly challenged. She clearly enjoyed the Tudor Farmhouse experience, but for elegance and tastefulness as a hotel the Speech House cannot be beaten, and there are many pubs, hotels, camping sites, and caravan parks which offer great accommodation for all.

The other locations that she acclaimed were Puzzlewood, Clearwell Caves and Tintern Abbey, which is on the wrong side of the River Wye to be in the Forest, and these great historical and magical sites clearly made a great impression on her. An unexpected bonus to the holiday was a cycle ride, along a gentle route for cycling beginners carefully compiled by a mountain biking hire centre. She was surprised at the helpfulness and encouragement of the bike hire company towards a complete novice.

She promised to return to the Forest. She provides this useful advice: ‘The Forest is blissfully isolated, densely forested, verdant and simple. Nature and wildlife are truly abundant (as are sheep) and you will fully experience whichever season you are in - so time your trip to see carpets of bluebells, and waves of sunny daffodils. In the Forest of Dean I found myself longing to be outside, in the quiet rolling hills and magical woodlands.’