A walk to find a grade 1 listed church, a bee shelter and some hard pears

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Most people have heard of Hartpury Agricultural College which is about 5 miles north of Gloucester and has an international reputation for its range of farming related courses. So today I’m going to recommend a circular walk from the village of Hartpury, starting at the Village Hall.

Walk along Danesford Lane, then take the path through the fields in the direction of the village church where there is an interesting collection of historic buildings to discover, and some fine views to enjoy.

The name Hartpury is probably a derivation from a Saxon name for the village sounding something like Hardipiry meaning hard pear. In the church yard there’s a collection of pear trees that grow inedible fruit but which produce a surprising amount of juice that makes the most delicious drink called Perry. I understand that there are over 100 different perry pear varieties in Gloucestershire with the most amazing names: such as Merrylegs; Mumblehead; Lumberskull; Drunkers and of course Stinking Bishop. made famous by the cheese that’s washed in perry pear juice, and so enjoyed by Wallace and Gromit

St Mary’s Church is listed as grade 1 which shows that it is of exceptional interest. It dates back to Norman times, with many alterations in the 14th century including the addition of its tower.

In the churchyard is a very special beehive. It’s not your ordinary beehive, its more like a 4 star bee hotel which, I hasten to add is completely unoccupied. It has 28 identical “rooms” and five extra in the basement and would, “when in business” have housed 33 working skeps or coiled straw hives that were used by bee keepers before wooden hives were invented.

This bee shelter as it’s called, is quite unique, was made in Gloucestershire and curiously has links with the houses of Parliament.

The shelter is a 19th century stone building which was found in a garden in Nailsworth and was restored in 1968, before arriving in the churchyard behind Hartpury church and is now under the care of their historic buildings trust.

Why has it links with The Houses of Parliament? – well the mason and quarry owner Paul Tuffley who lived at Nailsworth supplied the stone to architect Charles Barry’s senior mason who supervised all the sculpture work . So the same Cotswold stone that was used to make this bee shelter is in the interior of the new houses of parliament.

Honey seems to have been used as a currency here at Hartpury, because Gloucester Abbey, who owned the land, leased it, in return for an annual payment of 24lbs of honey. Honey in medieval times was used to sweeten food and to make the alcoholic beverage Mead.

There’s a restored chapel to see, originally built by nuns who came to England having escaped from the French Revolutionary forces that invaded Brussels in 1793. They lived at Hartpury Court for 45 years and occupied themselves with farming, building the chapel and they also ran a school for girls between the ages of 6 and 12 years old.

Before you leave here look at the roof of the 15th century tithe barn. It has a carved stone Welsh dragon at one end looking in an easterly direction towards England and a stone carved English Lion looking the other way over towards Wales.

A short walk down the road takes you to view a very attractive 18th century watermill built of soft red brick standing alongside the River Leadon.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this interesting stop. From here you can head back to Danford Lane or head on towards Hartpury College which you will see in the distance or turn right and go south towards the River Leadon and follow it to Barbers Bridge or Rudford.

Hartpury Parish Council have produced a leaflet containing information about all the walks around their parish and there is further information on their website.

Exploring May Hill, Gloucestershire

The top knot of trees on top of May Hill

May Hill is such a distinctive landmark for miles around but the nearer you get to it the less of the outline you see. I say that, because I was showing a new radio presenter around the Cotswolds.  She had moved to the Forest of Dean six months earlier and had taken many walks over May Hill and interviewed local people there, but when we were driving around the Cotswolds I pointed out May Hill and her surprise at its distinctiveness made me realise that it is best viewed from a long way away and once seen, never forgotten. 

If you want to climb May Hill, it isn't easy to find. To get there turn right off the A40 Gloucester to Ross-on-Wye Road towards Clifford Mense passing the Glasshouse on the way. Turn left by the Yew Tree Pub and drive half way up the hill and there is a small car park on the right.

Marcle Ridge with transmitter mast
in the middle of the picture

From the car park you get glorious views across the Herefordshire countryside. You can see the Ridge Hill transmitter at Marcle Ridge straight ahead.  Then over to the left, the Welsh borders and the Black Mountains. On a clear day you can see a conical hill called The Sugar Loaf which is in the Brecon Beacons near to the town of Abergavenny. You can also see a promontory called Hay Bluff, a great wedge at the northern end of the Welsh Mountains which is close to Hay on Wye.  Way over to the right are the Malvern Hills which act as the boundary between Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

The western side of the Malvern Hills

The lower slopes of May Hill are wooded, then as you get nearer the summit there's grassland and gorse bushes. A herd of ponies graze the hill which stops the vegetation taking over. There is the distinctive clump of trees at the summit and information as to when and why the trees were planted there. The taller trees were planted in 1887 to mark the Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the younger trees were planted in 1977 to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.

The view from the other side of the hill is across the Severn Plain with the Cotswold escarpment in the distance. The lower reaches of the River Severn cuts through the middle of the view with the great horse shoe bend around Arlingham and it takes its very zig zag route towards the bridges which are sadly out of sight. You can probably just see the wetlands at Slimbridge.

Charles Rolls and his Wye Valley connections

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett
Recorded for BBC Radio Gloucestershire Saturday Breakfast Show

Charles Rolls' statue in the centre
of Monmouth

The other day whilst doing a Forest of Dean coach tour we were travelling north along the A4136 running parallel to the River Wye and had glorious views down on the home town of pioneer motorist Charles Rolls and beyond into the Welsh countryside. This year is the centenary of the tragic death of Charles Rolls, so I reminded my group of locals from Gloucester about Charles’ eventful visit to their city in 1896.

Right up until 1896 every motor car, and there weren’t many about of course, that travelled on the roads had to have a man to walk in front of it, holding a red flag to warn people that the car was approaching. When the Red flag act was repealed, the emancipation of the motor car was celebrated with the London to Brighton Rally. The speed limit for cars was then increased from 4 to 14 miles an hour. And it was during that year that Charles Rolls was driving down Birdlip Hill when the brakes of his open topped Peugeot failed and the car sped down towards Brockworth, no doubt breaking the then speed limit.

Charles Rolls stopped at the New Inn in Northgate Street, Gloucester and the story goes that he was starting his car, I presume that he was using a crank handle, when the car started and ran him over! Fortunately only his pride was hurt!

Charles was later introduced to Henry Royce. Henry had a well established electrical and mechanical company and so they joined forces and worked together, Royce building and Rolls selling. In 1906 they had formed the Rolls Royce Company and were selling their classic car – The Silver Ghost.

Not content with speed on land Charles Rolls also learnt to fly, this was in the very early days when the Wright Brothers were developing their biplane. Charles bought a plane and made more than 200 flights and even set a record becoming the first man to cross the English Channel both ways in a single journey – a distance of 42 miles without stopping. Sadly it all ended in tragedy. Charles was killed aged 32, exactly 100 years ago on 12th July in an air crash at Hengistbury Airfield, Bournmouth when the tail of the plane broke off during an air display.

At the start of World War 1 Henry Royce was designing aero engines for planes built by the Gloster Aircraft Company. Rolls Royce developed the aero gas turbine engine that had been invented by Frank Whittle. Rolls Royce is now a global business and leads the world in building the most advanced jumbo jet engines, and its Filton works employs local people.

During July many places, including The Wye Valley, will be celebrating the life and significant achievements of the company founder Charles Rolls. There is an exhibition about him in the Nelson Museum in Monmouth until October.
For more about the celebrations in the Wye Valley there is a website http://www.monmouthevents.co.uk/

For Guided Coach Tours of The Forest of Dean and Wye Valley email: anne@tourandexplore.com

Coal Mining in the Forest of Dean

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett
Recorded for BBC Radio Gloucestershire:

Visiting the Forest of Dean for many people, means either forest walks, some cycling, bird watching or generally enjoying the areas of outstanding natural beauty.

However, deep underground in among the sandstone rocks are seams of coal which were laid down long before the last ice age. During the boom years of, the Industrial Revolution, the 19th and early 20th century this fossil fuel was needed to power the country. Thousands of Foresters, went underground to work in the harshest of conditions to dig out the coal.

Today, very little remains of the numerous collieries and transport systems that had developed in the Forest around 200 years ago. So, to discover more of the Forest’s industrial past I visited Robin Morgan, a free miner, who’s still digging out tons of coal from seams deep down in the Hopewell colliery. Robin, in his spare time has developed an old mine, laid paths, put in hand rails to comply with safety regulations, so that visitors can go underground to see the mining heritage and hear about the way of life of those involved in the coal industry.

Wearing a miner’s hat with a lamp on the front, I followed Robin into the cave. It took a while for my eyes to get used to the dark. As we walked down the paths and into the mine proper, Robin told me that in the early days we would have used candles to light our way. As we needed both our hands we would have had a candle holder called a Nellie, held between our teeth! (Thank goodness for batteries these days!). Fortunately there’s no explosive gas in the Forest pits, so naked flames weren’t a danger. Robin showed me the layers of rock and a seam of coal and explained how it was formed around 300 million years ago. I saw an area that a man would have had to lain on his side and holding a pick in both hands hack away to get the lumps of black coal.

In the early days, boys would have learnt to become colliers starting by dragging coal tubs out of the mines crawling on their hands and knees. The rock would have made their knees raw and the ropes would have dug into the shoulders and caused deep wounds.

Robin showed me some horse shoes that had been found in the mine and told me that a miner’s act in the middle of the 1800’s prohibited women from hauling coal in pits and gradually ponies took over the work. I heard about the ponies and how well they were cared for, becoming very close to the keepers that looked after them. Some of the ponies that worked in the deep mines, lived underground permanently, but at Hopewell they had outdoor stables, now hidden by the undergrowth. Horse drawn tram roads were built to Lydney docks and Bullo Pill so that the coal could be taken down to the river and across to Gloucester and Cheltenham.

Finally, we came out of the blackness of the mine at the far end. Walking out into the bright sunshine we were surrounded by lush green undergrowth. The scars on the landscape of all the mine workings now mostly disappeared. I’d had a fascinating insight into the industrial era of the forest over sixty years ago when ten thousand miners laboured in tunnels under the area I’d travelled over, extracting the black gold on which we had all depended.

If you want to go and visit the mine, Robin is still a full time miner but he does like to show people around. It’s a good idea to ring up and make an appointment and the phone number of the colliery is 01594 810706.

For guided group coach tours of the Forest of Dean - email: anne@tourandexplore.com

A chat with a Free Miner in the Forest of Dean

By: Anne Bartlett the Gloucestershire Tour Guide
Today I was delighted to meet Forest of Dean Free Miner and tremendous character - Dave Harvey. Here he is standing beside a chainsaw sculpture that depicts a catastrophic event in his life:

Dave was working in the Northern United Colliery, deep below ground when the mine roof caved in, trapping his legs - as you see in the picture. He was rescued from the collapsing tunnel by fellow miner Phil Bennett who grabbed Dave under the arms and pulled him away from danger.

The chainsaw sculpture can be seen at the Dean Heritage centre, Camp Mill, Soudley, Glos. I can't guarantee that Dave will be standing alongside it, but his poem "Big Phil Bennett" who saved his life, is printed on a board to the side of the sculpture. Its a very moving tribute to a very brave man.

http://www.deanheritagemuseum.com/

The museum sells a CD of Dave's songs and poetry.

For guided group coach tours of the Forest of Dean email anne@tourandexplore.com

TV and Film Locations in Gloucestershire

See Guide to TV and Film Locations

The other day I took some New Zealand journalists to visit a magical place in the Forest of Dean called Puzzlewood. Could this ancient landscape have given JRR Tolkein inspiration for Middle Earth?

It is known that JRR Tolkein knew the Forest of Dean well. He took part in an archaeological dig on a Roman Temple at Lydney Park near here, the temple remains were on top of a hill once called Dwarf Hill.

Legend says that 20 years after the Romans left Britain in 400AD the local people became frightened of the hill with all its tunnels and ruins believing that lots of little people such as dwarves and hobgoblins lived there, so the whole complex was left alone for over 1000 years.

It is said that Tolkein was influenced by the mythology surrounding the site and 3 years later he wrote his famous book, The Hobbit followed by The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So its quite likely that he visited this mysterious ancient woodland area too, which in 1929 was only known about by a few people. Who knows?

Filming for Lord of the Rings took place in New Zealand, so no claims here for that. However this place has been used as a location for the television series Merlin based on the historical legends of King Arthur and also the new Dr Who series called Weeping Angels.

For more information on guided tours by Anne Bartlett