Our first visit to the Forest of Dean and looking forward to plenty of walking and hopefully wildlife spotting. I would love to see some of the notorious wild Boar that frequent the area. Boar became extinct in England 300 years ago. The modern Forest of Dean population established itself after an escape from a wild boar farm in the 1990s and an illegal release in 2004. It is estimated that there are some 1200 Boar in the Forest and and ongoing and controversial cull is going on. Sightings are common and the receptionist at the Hotel said one the size of a 'baby Hippo' was seen wandering along the roadside opposite last night!
A nice simple walk to start with from the front of our hotel up to the 'Cyril Hart Arboretum'. Just looking at the verge there is evidence everywhere of Boar activity with all the churned up grass. Crossing the busy B4226 we entered the Arboretum with all its fine specimen trees before turning into the forest trails.
Lots of Spruce trees in what is essentially a working Forest with many mature conifers. Again lots of Boar activity but they remained evasive. However we did have a an equally impressive sighting , and my first ever of a beautiful Goshawk perched on a tree branch at close quarters. It was one of those moments I didn't know whether to reach for the binoculars or the camera? I opted for the binoculars to observe this stunning bird of prey in it's full glory. It got a bit twitchy and made it's way off deeper into the trees. Not something that you see very often! No wonder that it is know as the 'Phantom of the Forest'
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| Evidence of Boar activity |
The walk took us past 'Speech House Lake' a former quarry but now home to a variety of wildlife including Mandarin Ducks. By now the sun had put in a welcome appearance and it got quite warm. A perfect time to sit on a bench and enjoy the packed lunch we had taken with us.
Got chatting to a very interesting couple who were out walking too. He was a maker of Violins and had taught Ric Saunders of Fairport Convention and Nigel Kennedy how to play.
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| Look who arrived when the sandwiches were opened |
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| Speech House Hotel, notice the digging by Boars |
The walk took us back through the Arboretum and back up to our hotel and a well earned drink. But not for long ! I was back out again going a bit deeper into the forest following the Gloucester Way footpath and part of the sculpture trail. I went right off the beaten track and actually got a bit lost at one stage. I spent a bit of time watching a lovely Nuthatch feeding on a tree trunk. I checked my bearings with a group of walkers from Wales .They told me they also had got lost and stumbled upon a Boar with half a dozen piglets! Typical , I couldn't find one for trying.
It was with a little bit of relief that I spotted the hotel again. Talking of the hotel it was built during the reigh of Charles II in the 1670's. It is still owned by the crown and the Verderers Court still regularly meet there to discuss the management of the vert and venison.A pint of the Hillside Brewery 'Legless Cow' (4.2%) went down very well indeed.
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