Wye we love it here
BREAK: Vicky with Charlotte & William
FOR her first family break since the lockdown, VICKY LISSAMAN heads for the Gloucestershire countryside... and discovers a fun and relaxing forest retreat amid the “new normal”.
AFTER a 16-week plod of home-schooling, weight-gain and worry, we are finally hitting the road – and I am thrilled at the prospect of a change of scenery.
Carefully selected for its rural location, the destination for our post-lockdown break is the Forest Holidays resort in the Forest of Dean.
The mission – to experience a summer staycation in the new normal.
So with the car packed – face masks, hand sanitiser and anti-bacterial wipes are always in the boot nowadays – and half the usual amount of luggage, one thing the pandemic has taught me is that less is more, we head on to the M25.
Travelling from Hertfordshire via the London Orbital, we’d usually allow around five hours to reach anywhere near Bristol.
But after setting off at 2pm on a Friday, the worst day for traffic pre-covid, we arrive just three hours later. More folk working from home means less traffic on the roads.
We’ve timed it just right. Check-in at all 11 of Forest Holidays’ resorts has been moved to 5pm, along with an earlier check-out time of 9am on departure days, to allow for extra cleaning between guests.
I join a short, two metre-spaced queue at The Forest Retreat – a central reception area/cafe/shop, where, from behind acrylic glass screens, staff give arriving guests a rundown of the facilities and activities on offer and hand out accommodation keys in sealed polythene bags.
We then drive past a grassy meadow, mini-adventure play area and cycle hire shop into the Forestry Commission-owned woods to arrive at our two-bedroom Golden
Oak lodge.
It appears that plenty of people have had the same yearning for a getaway.
This is the first full weekend of opening and every lodge we pass has at least one car parked outside.
On our front door there is a sign to let us know our cabin has been cleaned and is safe to enter.
Inside it is spotless, with fresh towels laid out, robes and slippers to wear and free toiletries in the bathrooms.
Another visible difference in the new normal is a bottle of cleaning fluid and a cloth placed on the dining table, with a message offering free usage should we feel
GLADEY-LIKE: In the Forest of Dean
SPLASH HIT: Family in tub the need to give anything a wipe-over for our own peace of mind.
There is also a clever new way to work the interactive TV. Instead of using a remote, too communal these days, you simply scan a code with your smartphone and you can control it from your own device.
Changing channels isn’t the only thing it helps with. You can book activities, such as forest ranger experiences with den-building and marshmallow-toasting.
Or you can order deliveries of food and drinks – pizzas, burgers, curries, beer, wine and fresh croissants for the morning – and even wood for your log burner.
With the movie package we’ve pre-booked, there are dozens of new releases to choose from in the evening.
So with the food and entertainment for la later sorted, we step outside to enjoy this be beautiful woodland setting – from the
private hot tub. Gazing up at the surrounding oak, beech and pine trees while enjoying the warmth of an al fresco bubble bath is a remarkable remedy for the lockdown blues.
We soon discover we can’t actually see, or hear, another soul.
The busy- looking squirrels are our only immediate neighbours. The occasional afterdark hoot of an owl, the only sound.
After a few beers, Legless Cow, from the Hillside Brewery in Gloucestershire, purchased in the shop, and a barbecue on the decking, we throw a few logs on the wood-burner before calling it a night.
Up early next morning, we can’t wait to explore our spectacular surroundings.
A stroll along a cycle trail leads us to a track through the trees. Tread quietly enough and you may spot deer which patrol the woodlands before you reach the majestic River Wye.
We then turn right to follow the Peregrine
Path, named after the e peregrine f alcons which nest here.
It runs right beside the water, taking in the slow, meandering sections, as well as fast- flowing rapids where re kayakers practise their eir range of skills.
And with plenty of space to pass other walkers and cyclists along the way, it never feels busy.
We soon arrive at the Saracen’s Head – a riverside inn where there are partitioned inside tables, as well as al fresco areas and an outside kiosk selling drinks and ice creams.
We spend a lovely hour here, sipping bottles of Swan Gold and looking out over the dramatic river valley from the sunny terrace. This pitstop gives us the energy we need to conquer the soaring 500ft limestone outcrop of Symonds Yat Rock – a breathtaking vi viewing point for the River Wye’s m most famous looping bend.
Beware the wild boar which roam the woods around here, though.
I It’s all about the kids the following day a and family-friendly Puzzlewood has to be t the Forest of Dean’s most magical natural a attraction.
Its twis twisting moss-covered trees, rocks and caves, linked by paths, bridges and lookout points, have been the inspiraation for storytellers, including JRR R
Tolkien, and have served as a backdrop for Stormtroopers in Star Wars and Time Lords in Doctor Who.
The pre-bookable, timed-entry and
“keep left and walk on” system means visitors are always on the move and there are no overly busy periods. After
REST: The Saracen’s Head riverside inn delightful days out in green and glorious Gloucestershire, there is always a warm welcome back at Forest Holidays, with steaming bubbles in the sweet seclusion of the trees, hushed drinks on the decking and long, undisturbed sleeps.
Soothing, stirring and socially distanced, our woodland retreat proves to be the perfect setting to get away from it all… and
everyone else.
NATURAL BEAUTY: View from Yat Rock