There are several regular bus routes around the Forest of Dean. Photo: A room with a view/Alamy
It's so dark that it makes no difference whether my eyes are closed or open. The only sound is breathing and a faint ripple as I weightlessly change position in the salt-laden, skin-warm liquid. In an egg-shaped capsule at Float in the Forest, one of my personal nightmares (being left alone with my own thoughts and no distractions for an hour) turns out to be a strange, peaceful experience, where time is condensed and space expands. Initially skeptical, my husband, Luke, also emerges from his pod and calls the experience "very relaxing in a way that few things are" (£60, book in advance).
We're visiting the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire for a car-free spring break and our hotel is a leafy 15-minute bus ride from the flotation centre. Three times a day, bus 27 runs cash only, with no number on the front (just the company name FR Willetts), and people greet each other as they get on. We talk to Julia, "a born and bred forest ranger and proud of it," who tells us: "The townspeople are weird. They don't understand the slow pace of rural life." As if to prove her point, at that moment the bus carefully drives around a sheep with two new lambs suckling without a care in the middle of the road.
The only other living creatures in the evening forest are birds, squirrels and white-rumped deer
After the float we walk eight kilometers through the rainy forest to the Cycle Center. Along the way, wet branches and ferns are wrapped in soft wool from free-roaming forest sheep that have passed by. There are trees full of siskins and goldfinches, there are mandarin ducks in an old ironworks pond, and banks full of wood anemones and primroses. The air is noisy with spring birds and the smell of rich earth, fanned by the resident wild boars. Underfoot are sharp, bright green wild garlic leaves and pine needles, all enhanced by the morning's misty drizzle and our previous sensory deprivation.
These woods may feel remote, but it's entirely possible to get around on foot, by bike or by public transport: there are several regular bus routes and a bookable demand-responsive minibus called The Robin. From Gloucester train station, the 24 bus runs straight into the woods and stops outside where we are staying, the 17th century Speech House (doubles from £103 for a room only). A few miles west of the forest's main town, Cinderford, Speech House was built as a hunting lodge and forest court and is still leased from the crown. Breakfast is served in the courtroom with its stone fireplace, wall-mounted antlers, original carved oak chairs (chained to the wall since they were stolen in 2005) and copies of the 1221 Verderers Charter above the coffee pot.
The story continues
The 40 square miles of the Forest of Dean have been well trodden over the past thousand years: the Normans hunted wild boar here, the Tudor monarchs turned the trees into warships. For centuries, free miners have dug coal and iron ore in caverns deep underground, and Verderers, appointed to protect the "vert and venison", still meet at Speech House. Today the legendary forest is a beautiful place for walking and cycling, past mossy remains from several centuries.
From the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre, a mile from Speech House, a network of family-friendly circuits and trails criss-cross the wooded slopes (book bike hire in advance from £25 or £45 for e-bikes). As I stroll past the sculptures in steady rain, Luke cycles the Colliers path, mostly along picturesque old railway lines, and returns wet but excited. We sit by the roaring fire of the Pedalabikeaway cafe in a former mine office to dry out before strolling back through the trees. The only other living creatures in the evening forest are birds, squirrels and white-rumped deer.
Luke has to leave early in the morning, but I walk into the trees to hear the dawn chorus and see Kevin Atherton's stained glass window illuminated by the rising sun. Next is a visit to Puzzlewood (open daily, £9.50/£8 for adults/children), a fantastic moss-covered corner of an ancient forest that has provided filming locations for Merlin, Doctor Who and Star Wars. It is a rare surviving example of British temperate rainforest, where lichens, fungi and other wildlife thrive in damp, shady gorges. Polypodia ferns sprout from viridescent branches; woodpeckers hammer, and nuthatches and treecreepers patrol the trunks. Stairs, bridges and walkways lead visitors through a maze of velvet frowns, a local landscape feature formed by collapsed cave systems and Roman quarries. Beneath the Forest of Dean lie 245 hectares of natural caves and miles of corridors.
The 40 square miles of the Forest of Dean have been well trodden over the past thousand years: the Normans hunted wild boar here, the Tudor monarchs turned the trees into warships
At Clearwell Caves, a 15-minute walk away, I meet Jonathan Wright, one of the last of the forest. freeminers. Pots of his carefully excavated ocher are for sale in the gift shop, but Jonathan is somewhat melancholy about representing an era that is coming to an end. Records show that free miners have been extracting the forest's minerals since the 13th century, and documents show that the rights were granted long ago "to you miners of the Fforest of Deane". Visitor numbers in Clearwell are dwindling, but the caves are well worth a visit, with displays in 10 varied caverns featuring sound recordings of now deceased miners or ghostly projections of prehistoric fish in an illuminated underground pool (£12/£10 for adults/children ).
There are several options for getting to the Clearwell area without a car. The Robin drops visitors off at the caves on request (£2, pre-book). From Speech House you can also take the 24 bus to Coleford, where you can pick up a picnic at one of the shops there, such as the Crusty Loaf Bakery (great spicy veg pie) or the Forest Deli (wild boar scotch eggs), before you will walk half a mile along the B4228 to Puzzlewood. As the rain has stopped and a celandine-flecked spring day is visible, I opt for a five-mile circular walk taking in both attractions and the village of Clearwell.
The next morning I steam south from Parkend, eight minutes away on the 27 bus, on the cheerful Dean Forest Railway (£16/£8 adult/child). The train travels through the wooded Lyd Valley to Lydney Junction. From here it's just a 20-minute train ride to Newport along the wide River Severn, where I spend a day strolling through the thriving South Wales countryside and a night at the Old Barn Inn (double £99, B&B), a half hour by bus 74A or bus 74C from Newport.
From the noisy M4 I climb along sunken roads to Penhow Woodlands, now dotted with wild Welsh daffodils. Bluebells bloom here in May. There are Iron Age hillforts and views stretching to the Somerset coast, and later pubs under 18th century beams. The next day I head east again by train, arriving in Reading in just over an hour. From the train windows you can glimpse the moss-walled castle at Newport station and the prehistoric white horse of Uffington in the chalky hills just after Swindon.
Accommodation was provided by Speech House and the Old Barn Inn and the trip was supported by Visit Dean Wye. Train trips were provided by GWR (presale tickets Reading to Gloucester from £15.50 and to Nieuwpoort from £24)
