Badgers End Cottage

23/08/2026

We didn’t expect to bump into a family of wild boar on our outing today!

22/08/2026

Top 6 myths & legends of the Forest of Dean. 👇

Some of these stories are said to be older than the trees.

💍 A Forest curse may have inspired Lord of the Rings. A Roman named Silvianus lost a ring at Lydney Park. He begged the god Nodens to curse the thief until it came back. The ring later surfaced in a Hampshire field. It now sits at The Vyne in Hampshire. The National Trust reckons the Tolkien link is wishful thinking. We're choosing to believe.

🩸 One stone is said to bleed at midnight... The Staunton Longstone stands around seven feet tall on the verge of the A4136, thought to be Bronze Age. Prick it with a pin at midnight, so the story goes, and it bleeds. There's a red streak down the back of it. Probably iron in the rock. Maybe…

🐗 The Forest had its own monster. Long before wild boar returned, people spoke of the Beast of Dean, otherwise known as the Moose-Pig. Part boar, part myth. Big enough to flatten hedges and topple trees near Parkend…

🌊 Legend says the Severn is named after a drowned girl. In legend, a child called Habren was drowned alongside her mother in the river by a wronged queen known as Gwendolen. Hafren in Welsh. Severn in English. Sabrina in Latin. The goddess of the river.

🪦 One gravestone cannot be read. In Parkend churchyard lies Edmund Vimpany, died 1836. His stone is carved in runes no one has ever cracked. Secret code, or a dead man's joke?

🐱 Dick Whittington was a real local. The pantomime hero was from around here! Four times Lord Mayor of London. His family held the manor of Pauntley, right here in the Forest of Dean district.

Still plenty more where these came from. Had you heard them all before?

20/08/2026

18/08/2026

07/08/2026

August in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley is all long days and school holidays, with plenty worth planning around. 👇

🎪 Ross Carnival (Saturday 1st August). The carnival returns tomorrow! A community parade winds through the town centre, with a dog show to open the day at 11am, live music, children's entertainment and a fancy dress competition at 3pm. Free to come along, no need to book! Ross-on-Wye Town Council

⚔️ The Sealed Knot: Battle of Coleford (8th to 9th August). Members of the Sealed Knot return to Coleford to re-enact the 1643 English Civil War battle fought in the town, with living history and the noise and colour of pike and musket up close. A good one for curious families.

🗿 Summer Sculpture Exhibition (Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays until 13th September). 55 artists and 143 sculptures set out through the grounds of the Wye Valley Sculpture Garden near Tintern. Wye Valley Sculpture Garden, Tintern

🧀 Cheese and a Local Brew (selected Saturdays through August). Forest Deli in Coleford pairs a board of local cheeses with a local drink to match, a relaxed way to taste your way around the region's producers. Forest Deli

🏺 Potter's Wheel Day (1st and 15th August). Spend a day at the wheel with Eastnor Pottery on the Eastnor Castle estate. Your own wheel, endless clay and expert tuition, with your finished pieces fired and ready to collect later! Eastnor Pottery . Also, Hot Pot Pottery - pottery classes, workshops & experiences is running some fantastic classes and workshops in August too!

🌲 Summer Holidays free entry at Dean Heritage Centre (until 30th August). Free entry to five galleries of Forest history, a daily craft hut, the adventure playground and the Gruffalo Trail winding through the woodland. A gentle one for a slower family day. Dean Heritage Centre