Adventures in the Forest

My previous airbnb host kindly offered to take me to my next port of call, just a few miles up the road -  Time for Glamping in the Forest of Dean.

The woman who runs the glamping also plays music for live circle dancing in Ross-on-Wye, and is involved in an annual festival called Super Spirit.  Held in August in the forest near here, there is circle dancing to live music, mornings and evenings.  Hmmmm, maybe next year.....

 The bell tent was spacious, 5m diamenter, 2m high around the edge and much higher in the centre, with a central pole.  Set in its own little circular grove with hedgerows and standing stones around the perimeter - birdsong abounds.

I had a comfy bed, coffee table, rocking chair, camping gas cooker and a gas heater.  All very cosy.  But perhaps next time I will 'glamp' in the summer.  The nights are still cold, so I slept with a couple of layers of clothing, scarf and crocheted beret, as well as the doona and blanket, and still woke in the morning with a cold nose.

On my first full day I set of to hike through the forest to Symonds Yat Rock, a high lookout over the Wye valley and river below, and understandably the site of an Iron Age Hill Fort.

In the distance I could see the birds of prey circling.  They nest in the cliff faces nearby.

From the rock, I walked down the very steep path to the valley and along the river to Symonds Yat itself, a tiny village with a few houses and an old pub.  I had a lovely pub lunch at the Saracens Head, with desert, and even managed to sit out on the terrace to eat it. 

View from the pub. The Hand Ferry was for people and push bikes to get across the river to the other part of the village.  There was an overhead cable and the guy who operated the ferry had a rope looped over the cable and he pulled the barge along by hand.

Should I get a taxi back or walk up the big hill?  But it was less than an hour's walk back, so I decided I was up for the challenge and at 3pm headed along a different path home.   As long as I kept going uphill I was sure I would be on track.  HA!!  There are so many tracks, and I didn't have a map.  By 5pm I had the feeling I might be starting to go in circles.  The very cloudy day offered no sign of the sun to help me with directions.  I had reached the top of a hill, but the path continued with neither sight nor sound of the road I expected to come out on.  

I met a family of wild boar - with tiny babies.  Fortunately they just grunted at me and trotted off in to the undergrowth.  I was beginning to wonder if I would be spending the night like Hansel and Gretel, with piles of dry leaves for a blanket.  I knew I had plenty of daylight left, so on I trundled. 

At last I heard some cars and came out on a road, but which one.  Not familiar at all.  I was WAY off track, a couple of villages away from where I expected to be.  So I got some directions and began the long hike back along the roads, as I wasn't game to head back in to the forest at that stage.  I finally arrived home at 6pm, a little footsore and very relieved.  

The second day the cloud cleared and the sun came out.  A beautiful day.  But I had enough adventures for now, so spent the day in camp, sitting in my garden, enjoying the birds, and reading yet another Liane Moriarty book on my kindle.  I LOVE my kindle and am going to be so disappointed when I have devoured all of Liane Moriarty's books.  I find her style and her stories very addictive.

So Sunday took me on to Ross On Wye (via taxi) for one night's airbnb, ready to pick up my hire car for the next stage of my trip.  I was glad to be out of the tent as they have forecast a cold snap with possible snow.  Brrrr.