27 Jan Why you should check out the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail
The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail has been a tourist favourite since opening in 1986, and has since grown more and more. The Forest of Dean is located in Gloucestershire, and is a great way for families to get together and get close to nature. Although some of the popular sculptures have been removed such as the giant chair ‘Place’ and the giant staircase (The Observatory), there are still plenty of eye catching sculptures to look at. The Forest of Dean also has lots of popular picnic points such as Beechenhurst Lodge, which is a close distance to the sculpture trail, and it even has easily accessible toilets, a cafe, wide fields and a playground for the little ones.
The main point of the sculpture trail is to try and locate them; some are easily found, while others are harder to look out for – but that’s all part of the fun! These sculptures are just visual, but that doesn’t mean curious little ones can’t touch them.
There are plenty of amazing sculptures at the Forest of Dean such as the ‘Iron Road’, which is the remnants of a disused train track. When walking across it you can see different iron shapes such as a feather and a wheel etc. This is certainly great fun for kids.
The ‘Cathedral’ stained glass window is also one of Forest of Dean’s favourite sculptures, you will have to go deeper into the forest area of the sculpture trail to see this one though. It looks the best during the day when the light shines through, and pictures usually don’t do it justice – so you will not want to miss out on seeing this in person.
More sculptures to look out for include ‘The Heart of the Stone’ – a disused drift mine, ‘Cone and Vessel’, which is a giant acorn and pinecone sculpture to represent the combination of deciduous and coniferous trees in the forest. ‘Deer’ is also an iconic piece in the sculpture trail and is made entirely of Metal Wire; this can be found in a hidden area of the forest (where Deers typically roam), and is usually seen from a distance – so keep your eyes peeled. If you’re interested in Metal or Bronze Animal Sculpture displays, then you might want to check out companies like https://www.gillparker.com/, so you can have your own eye catching sculptures.
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