You can travel through attracted landscapes and beautiful wildlife in a historically significant setting by trains, buses, bike lanes, and footpaths
It doesn’t really matter if my eyes are open or closed because the darkness is so total. I move softly in the warm, salted liquid, and the only sounds I hear are breathing and a slight ripple. Being by myself with my thoughts and no outside distractions, which is one of my biggest worries, turns out to be oddly quiet inside the egg-shaped pod at Float in the Forest. Space appears to grow while time feels compressed. My husband, Luke, also comes out of his pod, despite my initial doubts, and he describes it as “deeply relaxing in a way few things are” (£60, book ahead).
We are on a car-free spring holiday to explore the county’s Forest of Dean, staying at a hotel that’s only 15 minutes by bus from the city centre. The three-times-daily bus 27, which only takes cash, has the company name FR Willetts written on the front instead of a number. As they embark, passengers say hello to one another. We start a chat with Julia, a local who identifies as a forester by birth, during our travels. “Town people are weird,” she says. They’re ignorant of the leisurely pace of country living.” At that moment, the bus, apparently undisturbed, skillfully skirts a sheep in the centre of the road that is nursing two fresh lambs.
The only other animals you’ll come across in the twilight woods are white-rumped roe deer, squirrels, and birds
We walk five miles to the Cycle Centre through the rain forest after our float. Along the route, silky wool from roving forest sheep that have passed by is draped over damp branches and bracken. We see mandarin ducks on a pond near an old ironworks, pass trees populated with goldfinches and siskins, and come across banks of wood anemones and primroses. The sound of springtime birds fills the air, while the deep earthy smell is stirred up by the local wild boar. Feeling the sharp, brilliant green leaves of wild garlic and pine needles beneath our feet, we are reminded of our last sensory deprivation experience and the foggy drizzle of the morning.
These woods might seem remote, but they are easily accessible by foot, bike, or public transport. There are several regular bus routes and a bookable demand-responsive minibus called The Robin. Starting from Gloucester railway station, bus 24 goes directly into the forest and stops outside our accommodation, the 17th-century Speech House (rooms start at £103 per night, room-only). Located a few miles west of Cinderford, the forest’s main town, Speech House was originally built as a hunting lodge and forest court, and it is still leased from the crown. Breakfast is served in the courtroom, which features a stone fireplace, wall-mounted antlers, original carved oak chairs (chained to the wall since they were stolen in 2005), and copies of the 1221 Verderers’ charter displayed over the coffee pot.
The last thousand years have seen a great deal of exploration of the 42 square miles that make up the Forest of Dean. Here, the Normans hunted boar, and the Tudor kings gathered its trees for use in their battleships. Freeminers have been mining coal and iron ore for ages in these subterranean caves, and the Verderers, who are responsible for protecting the forest’s “vert and venison,” still meet at Speech House. Today, strolling or cycling through this fabled woodland is a great experience, as you pass past artefacts covered in moss that date back several centuries.
The Forest of Dean Cycle Centre, located one mile from Speech House, has a system of kid-friendly pathways and circuits that wind through the forested hillsides. You may reserve a bike in advance for as little as £25, or £45 for an e-bike. Luke rides an e-bike around the Colliers route, largely along magnificent abandoned railway lines, while I meander aimlessly about sculptures in the persistent rain. Back drenched but elated, he goes. Later, we dry off by sitting by the crackling log fire at the Pedalabikeaway cafe—a old mine office—before meandering back through the trees. The only other creatures in the twilight woods are white-rumped roe deer, squirrels, and birds.
In the morning, Luke has to depart early, but I take a leisurely stroll into the trees to listen to the dawn chorus and admire Kevin Atherton’s stained-glass window, illuminated by the rising sun. My next stop is Puzzlewood (open daily, £9.50 for adults, £8 for children), a fantastical corner of ancient woodland cloaked in moss that has served as a filming location for Merlin, Doctor Who, and Star Wars. It is a rare example of the UK’s temperate rainforest, where lichens, fungi, and other wildlife thrive in damp, shady gorges. Polypody ferns sprout from vibrant green branches; woodpeckers drum away, and nuthatches and treecreepers explore the trunks. Visitors can wander through a maze of velvety scowles, a local geological feature formed by collapsed cave systems and Roman quarries, using steps, bridges, and walkways. Beneath the Forest of Dean lie 600 acres (245 hectares) of natural caves and miles of passageways.
The Forest of Dean’s 42 square miles have a thousand-year history, with Normans hunting boar and Tudor monarchs using its trees for warships
A fifteen-minute walk down the road brings me to Clearwell Caves, where I meet Jonathan Wright, one of the last freeminers in the Forest. The antique store sells jars of his precisely recovered ochre, but Jonathan seems a little depressed about symbolising a disappearing time. Documents providing privileges to “ye miners of the Fforest of Deane” long ago suggest that freeminers had been mining the forest for minerals since the 13th century. Clearwell is losing visitors, but even so, a visit to the caves is highly recommended. There are displays in ten different caverns, with haunting projections of prehistoric fish over a floodlit underground lake and voice recordings of deceased miners (admission: £12 for adults, £10 for children).
There are several car-free options for reaching the Clearwell area. The Robin offers on-demand drop-offs at the caves for £2 (advance booking required). Alternatively, from Speech House, you can take bus 24 to Coleford. Consider stopping at one of the shops there, such as the Crusty Loaf Bakery (known for its great spicy veg pasty) or the Forest Deli (offering wild boar scotch eggs), to pick up a picnic before hiking half a mile down the B4228 to Puzzlewood. Since the rain has stopped and revealed a celandine-speckled spring day, I decide to take a five-mile circular walk that includes both attractions and Clearwell village.
The next morning I take the Dean Forest Railway (adult tickets £16, children £8) for a picturesque trip south from Parkend, which is only eight minutes away by bus 27. The train lumbers along the scenic Lyd valley, arriving at Lydney Junction in the end. After there, a 20-minute rail ride down the vast River Severn will get you to Newport. After a day spent touring the blooming countryside of south Wales, I spend the night at the Old Barn Inn (rooms from £99, including breakfast), which is located just half an hour’s bus journey from Newport on either the 74A or 74C.
I leave the busy M4 behind and head up into the peace and quiet of Penhow Woodlands, along dark, sunlit lanes now blooming with wild Welsh daffodils. May brings a carpet of bluebells across the woodlands. Discover hillforts from the Iron Age here, with vistas that reach as far as Somerset’s shore. Later, savour some pub food while sitting beneath 18th-century beams. I take the train east the next day and arrive in Reading in little over an hour. During the voyage, views via the train windows show the ancient Uffington White Horse on the chalky hills immediately after passing Swindon, and the castle with moss walls close to Newport station.
