From the 20 million trees in the Forest of Dean to the 58 mile long Wye Valley AONB, our natural beauty, dramatic landscapes and plethora of flora and fauna are what make our area so unique. You can walk for miles along glorious paths and see a wide range of local plants, trees and animals. You can spot unusual birds in a number of reserves, hear the most divine dawn chorus, see deer and boar if you're lucky, and in fact you may even see some of our resident wildlife from your holiday accommodation. Nature is at the heart of the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley and in these pages we hope you will learn a little more about what makes this area so special.
About the Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean was recorded as The Forest in the 'Domesday Book' (1086) and as Dene or Dean after the Old English Denu for valley. In medieval times it was a royal hunting forest, before becoming a source of timber for the navy's Tudor warships. By Victorian times it was a major site of industry, with coal mining and tramways punctuating the landscape. In 1924 it was transferred to the Forestry Commission and in 1938 it was designated as the first National Forest Park in England. Today, it is still a working forest and Forestry England manages it sympathetically and sensitively while liaising on conservation matters with the main conservation bodies.
The forest is bound by the rivers Wye to the north and west, and the Severn to the south and east. Around the forest are rolling hills, farms and vineyards and many interesting villages and towns. These ancient woodlands and its variety of wildlife hold many surprises just waiting to be discovered.
About the Wye Valley
The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape and straddles the border between England and Wales, from Hereford in the north to Chepstow in the South where the Wye meets the Severn. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscapes in Britain. The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK at 134 miles but the area designated as an AONB covers 126 sq milies. The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was first designated in 1971. Having the same level of protection as a National Park, the purpose of the AONB is to conserve and enhance the outstanding landscape of the Wye Valley, so that we, and future generations, can enjoy it. The Wye Valley offers a varied and contrasting geographical landscape, from the flatter Herefordshire valley with a winding river, to dramatic limestone cliffs with nesting peregrine falcons.
