One of the Cannop Ponds
From the car park we crossed the road to the dam at the
end of the higher pond and followed the path across the
dam to the path along a disused railway at the other side
of the pond.
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This
morning we drove from our hotel in Ross-on-Wye to a little
car park at Cannop Ponds, map ref. SO607108 in the Forest
of Dean.
Pair of Mandarin Ducks at Cannop Ponds
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Path up from Cannop Ponds to the Gloucestershire Way
Here we turned left to walk along the Gloucestershire
Way for about 1.5km to the B4226 at the Speech House Hotel.
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From there a good path led off to the south east following
a small stream up the hillside for about 250m to a wide
forest track used by the Gloucestershire Way.
Forest Operations
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The Gloucestershire Way heading toward Speech House Hotel |
Sheep with young
lambs resting in the forest
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Sheep track - too rounded and short to be a deer
Bracket
fungus on the Verderers Oak
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About 200m from the hotel is the "Verderers Oak",
over 7.5m around its girth so maybe as much as 500 years
old.
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The Mahony Beech
At
the hotel we crossed the road and continued along the
Gloucestershire Way.
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A little nearer the hotel is a large beech tree named
after Brian Mahony, a former Deputy Surveyor of the Forest
of Dean.
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Some of the lovely open woodland of the Forest of Dean |
The Gloucestershire Way between Speech House Hotel and the
railway path |
The Gloucestershire Way between Speech House Hotel and the
railway path |
At last we reached the railway path |
Pine cones eaten by squirrels |
Two of a group of deer crossing the path ahead of us
At the railway we turned left to return around 5.5km along
the railway path to Cannop Ponds and our starting point.
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After about another 3km we came to the path along the
disused railway at map ref. SO633145.
Part of the railway path
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A series of carved sleepers set in the old railway bed |
One of a series of carved sleepers set in the old railway
bed |
One of a series of carved sleepers set in the old railway
bed |
One of a series of carved sleepers set in the old railway
bed |
Back at Cannop Ponds |
Path around the edge of Cannop Ponds |
Muscovy duck at the edge of Cannop Ponds
Just
at the edge of the car park we noticed two deer watching
us from the woods. We stopped and put the window down
just as a large bird of prey flew over us to land on a
tree near the deer. I managed to take a photo before the
deer ran off and the bird flew deeper into the woods.
Had we seen a perigrine? It would be nice to think so.
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After
our walk we drove to Simmonds Yat Rock to look at the
view. There were several people with large telescopes
hoping for a sighting of the perigrine falcons that live
there. After a good look around , and a coffee just before
the kiosk closed, we got into the car to leave.
Deer and bird of prey sighted as we left the car park
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Deer
sighted as we left the car park |
Bird
of prey sighted as we left the car park |
