Littledean, England, United Kingdom
We hired a car last Thursday and headed west on Sunday. We'd forgotten how much closer the towns are over here - it only took 2 hours to get from Finsbury Park, through outer London and Oxford to Cheltenham. Saw lots of gliders around Burford (on the A40). We'd intended being around Gloucester next weekend for the 2 star Severn Bore - but now we're going to a party instead!
After checking out the places where it's possible to view the Severn Bore (when it happens), we looked for somewhere to stay
. One place was full, several weren't even open. Luckily we'd googled a few places before we went down there, so I knew The Belfry Hotel was off the major roads at Littledean. They had vacant rooms - just didn't serve an evening meal. So back in the car and up to Cinderford to get a Chinese takeway - awesome views out over the Severn. Then back to the bar to eat it and enjoy the local real ale (Bryan) and cider (Anne.) This place was 60 pounds for bed & breakfast
After a bit of a drive through the forest, we spent about 90 minutes at "Puzzlewood" on Monday morning - timed it just right as a bus load of school kids started just as we finished. Puzzlewood is 14 acres of ancient woodland, and has a mile of pathways through deep ravines and moss covered rocks, over wooden bridges and through fantastic tree and rock formations. Many people believe Puzzlewood was the inspiration for Tolkein's Middle Earth in "The Hobbit". We got Senior's discount!! Only cost 11 pounds for us both - instead of 12 pounds.
After that we headed to South Wales and the Gower Peninsular. Drove down an extremely narrow road to Oxwich - only to find out that the hotel down there was full. So we rang The Worm's Head Hotel and booked over the phone. Great idea, as we could take our time getting to Rhossili.
Forest of Dean Part 1
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Littledean, England, United Kingdom
Other Entries
-
May 181 day prior
London, United Kingdom -
May 19
Littledean, United Kingdom -
May 212 days later
Rhossili, United Kingdom -
May 223 days later
Symonds Yat, United Kingdom -
May 256 days later
Brentwood, United Kingdom -
May 2910 days later
Langdon Hills, United Kingdom -
Jun 0214 days later
Honefoss, Norway -
Jun 0315 days later
Bergen, Norway -
Jun 0416 days later
Kristiansund, Norway -
Jun 0517 days later
Trondheim, Norway -
Jun 0618 days later
Rovaniemi, Finland -
Jun 0719 days later
Stockholm, Sweden -
Jun 0820 days later
Stockholm, Sweden -
Jun 0921 days later
Chiusa, Italy -
Jun 1022 days later
Chiusi, Italy -
Jun 1123 days later
Paciano, Italy -
Jun 1325 days later
Genoa, Italy -
Jun 1426 days later
Chur, Switzerland -
Jun 1527 days later
Offenburg, Germany -
Jun 1628 days later
Brussels, Belgium
Comments
2025-05-23
Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank
Tess
2013-05-25
Anne, I am rereading The Hobbit, and your photo just looked like the images I've been imagining. Love the rest of the photos, and can fully understand why Tolkien might have used this for Hobbiton and the goblins' caves. It's gone in the trip book too! Boy, we'll have a busy time!
Ken
2013-05-27
Fascinating stuff Anne. And they seem to fit so much into a small area. Love the photos.
anne.nathan
2013-05-27
The geological features on show at Puzzlewood are known as scowles. Scowles originated through the erosion of natural underground cave systems formed in the Carboniferous Limestone many millions of years ago. Uplift and erosion caused the cave system to become exposed at the surface. This was then exploited by Iron Age settlers through to Roman times for the extraction of iron ore. It is usually impossible to date open cast extraction precisely, although ores with a chemical signature consistent with those from the Forest of Dean were certainly used to make tools and weapons in the late prehistoric period.[5]
Evidence of Roman occupation of the area is supported by the discovery of a hoard of over 3,000 3rd Century AD coins which were found in the scowles of Puzzlewood.[citation needed] Once the Romans left, nature reclaimed the old workings with moss and trees, to create the unique landscape. The historical use soon became forgotten, and the folklore of Puzzlewood began.
anneandsteve
2013-05-28
This is really interesting Anne. I'm enjoying reading it. You looked well rugged up... Hope it warms up for you soon