After welcoming Denise from Monmouth, Martin from Hereford and Sue from the Cardiff group upon their arrival at Lower Lydbrook in Gloucestershire on a dry but overcast morning, sixteen walkers including leader Joy set off from Stowfield Road, past the disused business park and heading uphill along a rough farm track entered fields containing sheep and their young twin lambs.
Climbing gently to reach English Bicknor that was first recorded as a hamlet in 1066 and the name Bicknor may derive from Bica’s Ridge. A gate led into the schoolyard, where the school began in 1834 with money donated from the Machen and Davies families, both local landowners and the original building has undergone many changes.
Standing beside the school is the Church of St Mary the Virgin, a Norman church which dates back to 1100, set in an oval churchyard which has Saxon origins and the whole thing stands within the courtyard of a motte and bailey castle that was destroyed in the 14th century.
As the church door was unlocked there was time for a quick peep inside and to record the groups visit in the visitor’s book and inside the neat church there are three 14th century stone effigies. Originally the tower was in the centre of the church, but as it was made of local soft red sandstone it crumbled away and fell down, so after the Norman invasion they built a new western tower. In 2007 the original bells were returned to the church and re-hung along with a new bell made by Rudhams of Gloucester and this church is one of only a handful where the bells are rung ANTI- clockwise!
The Forest of Dean was seriously depleted of wood because the Royal Navy were supplied with a huge amount of its timber for ship building and by1808 there were only 670-acres of enclosed land left where the trees were protected from the Foresters and their animals. Edward Machen from Bicknor Court in his role as deputy surveyor for the Forest oversaw the re-planting of 11,000-acres of land with oak, ash, elm, sycamore and sweet chestnut, along with Norway Spruce, Scots pine and larch which was the first time that conifers had been introduced into the Forest of Dean.
In order to protect the trees from the Foresters and their animals that had grazing rights, Machen built walls around them called enclosures and only the gentry were given keys to enter the woodland areas for recreation. Over 100-miles of new fences either stone or earthen banks some 5 foot high and planted with gorse at the top and bottom were erected, which the angry Foresters ripped down and riots followed in 1831. Machen dealt with all this in his stride and after a total of 46 years in office he was responsible for the planting of 50-million trees!
Tramping along a lane and heading through the upper part of Common Grove, fields led them to Symonds Yat and morning coffee by the Log Cabin, before they took advantage of the busy viewing platform some 500 feet above the River Wye, where bird watchers had their telescopes firmly trained on the Coldwell Rocks, trying to spot peregrine falcons who lay their eggs in their eyrie at the end of March or early April.
After descending steps onto the road and passing a pair of old kilns, a steep slippery narrow rocky path led them downhill through the wood past several cottages tucked into the hillside. The woodland was smothered with the leaves of wild garlic and reaching the valley bottom and following a wide woodland track uphill and then down steps into Eliot’s Wood, they followed deer prints in the mud down to the peaceful River Wye.
The sunshine finally broke through the clouds and passing two Canada geese sunbathing on a huge rock beside the path, as canoeists gently paddled upstream past the delightful old stone buildings of Mainoaks Farm, where a herd of Hereford cattle quietly grazed on the opposite bank, the riverbank led them past a small flock of merino sheep to the Huntsham Bridge.
Crossing the river into Herefordshire to re-enter fields and a track through Rocklands Farm, where pretty yellow daffodils in full bloom surrounded all the trees on the drive, before a short piece of road-walking led them into a narrow track that went up the hillside to a road, from where there were lovely views towards the tall spired St Giles Church at Goodrich. In 1196, this was the parish church of Castle Godric (Goodrich Castle) but the church of today relates to the mid13th century and much rebuilding has been carried out. Initially the spire was four storeys high but was restored in 1884 and again in 2001 when the peal of six bells were restored and rehung. Interestingly, Thomas Swift the grandson of Jonathon Swift who penned Gulliver’s Travels was the Royalist vicar of this church between 1624 and 1658.
Pausing for breath, the last steep climb via steps onto the open hillside led them to the trig point on Coppet Hill and stopping for a late lunch beside the ruins of The Folly, there were stunning views up to the Malvern Hills whilst the Black Mountains were shrouded in mist with Sugar Loaf and Skirrid just about visible on the skyline.
This local nature reserve is owned by residents who formed the Coppet Hill Common Trust in 1985, for its protection and the hill lies within the Wye Valley which is classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Below them on a wooded hill to the north they had the best view of the stunning red sandstone Goodrich Castle begun in the late 11th century by an English landowner Godric, who the castle is named after. Later it came into the possession of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke who added the square keep which stands out as it is grey in colour and constructed of limestone. Under the reign of King Richard the Lionheart, Goodrich and the earldom of Pembroke was passed to William Marshall, the brilliant castle builder who carried out further work on the inner ward and in turn the castle passed to each of his four sons. During the English Civil War, both Royalists and Parliamentarians held the castle, but in 1646, after months of siege and lack of food, plus the famous ‘Roaring Meg’ the only surviving Civil War mortar, which has been returned to the castle after 350-years, Sir Henry Lingen’s Royalists finally surrendered to the Parliamentarian army and Colonel Birch their leader deliberately slighted the castle by tearing down walls so it could not be used as a fortress again.
Originally Coppet Hill was coppiced woodland within the Manor of Goodrich, which going back in time has many traces of iron making, so the demand for charcoal for burning may have led to the extensive coppicing. Traditionally it was the Lord of the Manor who owned Coppet Hill, but the tenants of the manor were allowed to graze their animals, collect wood for fuel and to use the area for leisure purposes, so the land could not be enclosed without notice from Parliament. This was known as ‘Commoner’s Rights’ and they still exist today for the residents of a dozen or so houses on the common.
At present on Coppet Common, a great deal of work is taking place from digging ponds, to tree felling and hillside clearance, leading to much appreciated extensive views from the ridgeway.
Descending steeply through coppiced trees at Jelemy Tump and Coldwell Wood, they turned northeast along the banks of the River Wye where handsome male pheasants, a bird that was first introduced into this country by the Normans in the 11th century as game birds, were running on the ground whilst calling to each other.
Arriving at the old railway bridge near Welsh Bicknor, with a tunnel nearby where passengers were carried from Ross-on-Wye through to Chepstow and which closed in 1959, the group tramped across the river back into Gloucestershire for the short trek back to their start point.
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