Woolly says – It had been a busy couple of weeks setting up for the coming season and I had kept Jo’s nose firmly pressed to the grindstone (blog out about this in the next week or so) to ensure that everything got done. It meant a welcome change of pace with the arrival of daughter Zoe for a couple of days and the opportunity to explore more of the area that we are in. With this in mind and the sun trying to arrive we headed to something that had been on my list for a very long time.

The Forest of Dean is a region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England, the area is characterised by more than 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) of mixed woodland and is one of the surviving ancient woodlands in England. Used for as land for the crown to hunt prior to 1066 it remains the second largest crown forest in England, after the New Forest.

Traditionally the main sources of work in the area have been forestry – including charcoal production – iron working and coal mining. Archaeological studies have dated the earliest use of coal to Roman times for domestic heating and industrial processes such as the preparation of iron ore, with this thought in mind I made sure to keep an eye out for any Romans that might be about.

These days the forest provides cycling paths, aerial courses, climbing walls and its famous Sculpture trail which according to google was a must see. The Sculpture trail was founded in 1986 with a range of sculptures some of which are permanent and some that stay for a shorter period of time, they have been designed to evolve over time and become part of the forest itself.

Having finally navigated our way round the car park we made our way to the start. Having climbed a small hill, I was delighted to see a large badger who was happy provide seating whilst I got my breath back and Alfie the Dog had a good sniff round. With the mutt leading the way I padded onwards, it wasn’t long before Jo shouted out ‘Look up Woolly’ and there high above my head was a tree crawling with huge red ants, I picked up speed in case they decided to climb down and carry me away.

Further along the path we arrived at a cylindrical exhibit with some thought provoking words cut into it’s metal base, before following the purple arrows towards the next area which presented us with something that might have been a rabbit with mismatched ears which was called The Heart of Stone, having walked round it several times I failed to see the heart so with a sigh I marched off to the next interesting installation.

I paused for a moment to look at the information provided on another trail, that of the worm which was ideal for young children and a much shorter walk that we were on.

Further along the path we arrived at a large wooden slab engraved with a poem about the area around us, it was rather a good poem but I did wonder if it actually could be considered a sculpture.

Onwards we went finding ourselves at the bottom of a bank with an exhibit called Fire and Water Boats which provided three wooden boats in a bed of mud which made for a good photo opportunity before heading along the iron road.

The Iron Road was made up of old railway sleepers with each one displaying a wooden carved picture, some where difficult to see but others were easy to identify. It also made for a great game of jumping from one sleeper to the next.

Having prised the mammoth away from his new game we carried on through the forest, although most of the branches were bare, we could see the start of spring on the trees and once in full bloom this could be a nice shady walk in the hotter months to come.

Woolly says – Passing a sculpture featuring a bowl and a pine cone we turned along the path and arrived at something that could only be a bunker, I looked at the women and they agreed that it must be a bunker but did that make it an exhibit as well or was it just left over from many years ago. Slightly perplexed it was at this point we realised that we had lost our friendly purple arrows to guide us through. As mile after mile passed, I started to feel fearful that we might still be walking as night time arrived and wondered how my survival skills might come in handy when Jo suddenly dashed down the path flagging down a forestry jeep whose driver explained how to get back onto the correct route.

We hiked upwards arriving in a clearing that had two large red pieces of concrete, Alfie the Dog arrived at them first and set about sniffing out the answer while I considered the shapes and possible meaning behind them.

Next came a large rock sat next to a tall piece of piping that had been planted in the ground, I peered up at it and wondered if the artist was expecting it to grow into lots of little pipes.

Further along the path we arrived at an instillation called Echo, a rather lovely wall with a large number of stone piles which went straight into my number one spot of the trail.

With paws starting to ache and the humans moaning about their tired feet we entered an area where the trees formed a natural canopy above us and there to my delight was the one exhibit that had made me want to visit the Sculpture trail in the first place, Cathedral.

Hanging high above us was the loveliest of stained-glass windows reflecting the light differently from each angle you viewed it, it made an incredible sight. Having admired it from every point possible we set off towards the car park and the chance of a much needed sit down but not before glancing back and admiring the artwork once more.