Forest of Dean Cabin Break

Hello everyone,
I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus but I am very much wanting to get back into the swing of things. Recently, I spent five days in a cabin in the Forest of Dean with my boyfriend Grant and a couple of friends. I wanted to share some photographs with you because we had such a lovely time. We also visited Puzzlewood and the Clearwell Caves.

It's been around six months since I had a full week away from work where I could relax, so the chance of being in cabin retreat with a hot tub was an opportunity too good to miss. I had never been to the Forest of Dean or Gloucestershire before, but I would certainly go back. Going in October meant we had the perfect autumnal setting of falling leaves (and acorns) and the weather was kind to us as we had sunshine each day we were there. Chilling in the hot tub surround by the beautiful nature of the forest was so wonderful.

It was so lovey to have time out from our busy lives and getting to spend quality time with each other. Grant and I went for a walk through the Forest of Dean where we had a lot of fun choosing which paths to follow, then straying from the paths and coming across a friendly group of cows. I've added a selection of photographs from the forest below.

The next place we visited was Puzzlewood which is just a short five minute drive from the Forest of Dean. This place was inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, and I could certainly see why. Also, many different television programmes have filmed scenes in Puzzlewood such as Doctor Who, Merlin and Da Vinci's Demons. It was a truly magical ancient place to walk around, and we also had great fun choosing different paths and bridges to cross. It was a great place to take photographs and I took so many, but I've just picked out a select few so you can see how beautiful Puzzlewood is.

The last place we visited before we came home was the Clearwell Caves, which was very interesting. It was a self-guided tour which we managed to do in around an hour or so. There was a lot of information, with some of it being quite eye-opening in regards to the conditions miners had to work in. During our tour we were around 100 feet below the surface, but the mines at Clearwell went down to 600 feet which I thought was extraordinary! It was quick dark inside of course, but I've got a selection of photographs from our visit to share.

That's the lot! We had an amazing time down in the Forest of Dean, and I certainly would go back for a relaxing retreat. It was great surprise getaway planned by my amazing boyfriend, and I can't wait for our next adventure!

Have you visited the Forest of Dean before, or would you consider it? Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading/looking!