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A large teapot made by local potter and artist Mary Rose made a cameo appearance in the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down. Our walks often pass Mary Rose’s gallery where the teapot is now back on display.

A recent walk after heavy rain from storm Dennis passed a small paddock that excess water flow has temporarily converted into a pond.

Nearby rivers, the Severn and Wye have reached record levels so for the next few days it is prudent to check for flood warnings before travelling.

Students from a number of American universities in the mid-west states visited the Forest of Dean as part of an exploration of the Harry Potter phenomenon. J K Rowling spent many childhood years in Tutshill and was clearly influenced by that experience when she used the Forest of Dean as an important refuge for Harry and his friends when they were hiding from the forces of evil. He even found an extremely important wizard artifact in a pond in the Forest!

The students also visited London, Oxford, Edinburgh, and the Warner Brothers Harry Potter experience in Hertfordshire. The Forest, however, helped them contextualize the books.

The guides met the students who were driven from Chepstow, through Tutshill, around the Forest — stopping for a slap-up meal in the Orepool! — to Symonds Yat, via Berry Hill. At Berry Hill, the guides spoke enthusiastically about the Forest’s original Potter — the playwrite Dennis Potter — whose plays electrified the nation. After a visit to Yat Rock, the group went to New Fancy, from where they then hiked to Cannop Ponds. From Cannop they came back to stay at the most haunted building in the Forest — St. Briavel’s Castle, now a youth hostel.

They were then treated to a presentation by the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley tour guides, rounding rounding up everything they had discussed and seen.

More than a dozen walkers enjoyed an end-of-year morning walk from Speech House Hotel.

The walk from Speech House led to the Forest’s favourite piece from the Sculpture Trail, the hanging stained glass window known as Cathedral. After gasps of appreciation and many photos, the walkers moved on to the site of the Rewilding Project, which had been shown in a recent episode of BBC1’s Countryfile. The project aims to introduce tradition crafts such as weaving, tannery, foraging back to the Forest. It holds events, workshops, training sessions, and even has its own shop which you can find on its website.

The walkers were told about two exciting rewilding schemes within the Forest. The first was the reintroduction of beavers to Greathough Brook near Brierley. Their job is to dam up the brook, to protect Lydbrook from flooding. Second, they were told of recent release of 18 pine martens, whose job it was to control the grey squirrels, with a view to reintroducing the native red squirrels.

The next stop was Woorgreens Lake, which is a beautiful remnant of open cast mining. This is typical of the Forest of Dean, where industrial archaeology is transformed into something beautiful for all to enjoy.

The group then went back to the other side of the busy road towards Spruce Ride. Walkers saw relatively new spruces at different points of growth, both on the way, and on Spruce Ride itself.

After a visit to Speech House Lake, the group divided into two. Those who wanted to relax before lunch retreated back to Speech House Hotel, those who wanted to continue enjoyed the old railway line, which is now a cycle track and walking track.

What a wonderful way to start the last day of the year!