The picturesque village of Newland lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) on the fringe of the Forest of Dean and a mile from the River Wye. This is my home, and a perfect starting point for this site, as the area is a hotbed for beautiful walks in a variety of settings from forests to open fields and valleys to mountains. In these pages I document some of the projects I am undertaking. As well as the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean I also frequent the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains, with some visits to the Cotswolds and other local areas.
Original project list
- Walk the lines of the disused railways in the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley documenting and plotting the route. See Tracks.
- Visit as many local paths, tracks and byways as possible recording points of interest and routes covered.
- Plot as many boundary stones, milestones, keystones etc. as possible.
- Produce Points of Interest (POI) file for GPS download.
The GPS and digital camera are key to this site, so there will be plenty of co-ordinates and downloads allowing visitors to follow in my tracks or to just see what I've found from the comfort of an armchair.
Newland is a sleepy village. It's mainly the countryside that people come for, but here are a few places to visit while you're here.
The Ostrich Inn, a 12th century pub serving good food and traditional ales (and Budvar) with a large open fire. They are very dog friendly. Good pubs are few and far between in this area.
All Saints Church. 12th century church open for viewing. The church ceased being a working church in 2003 and is now used for concerts and is maintained by Friends of All Saints Church, Newland.
The Great Oak of Newland. The largest Oak ever recorded. Destroyed in a blizzard in 1955.
The Almshouses. Built in 17th century by the Haberdasher's Company for poor or disadvantaged people.
Cherry Orchard Farm campsite.
There are only about 50 other houses, but several are very impressive or interesting.
Visit our SidAndBob geocaching site and our mapRoute application too.
Work started on this site 9th October 2006.