Chessgrove Cottage Holiday Let

08/06/2026

02/06/2026

Picnics are great way enjoy the Forest of Dean on a sunny day. If you’re visiting we’re asking for one simple favour that makes a big difference:

🐗Please don’t feed the wild boar, and take all food waste home.

Wild boar have an excellent sense of smell and will quickly find leftovers. Even small scraps can encourage boar to approach closer to people and return to areas repeatedly looking for food.

There is currently a real and ongoing risk of African swine fever (ASF) reaching the UK. ASF is a highly contagious disease of pigs and wild boar.

A key risk pathway is pigs or wild boar eating contaminated pork or pork products. The virus can survive for weeks or even months in pork products, including cooked, cured and frozen items. Even when food isn’t meat-based, it can be contaminated through kitchen handling. The safest approach is not to feed boar at all and to take leftovers home.

When you picnic, please help by following these simple steps:
✅ Take all leftovers home (including crusts, peels, fruit cores and crumbs).
✅ Put rubbish in an appropriate bin or take it home to dispose.
🚫 Don’t leave food out for any forest animals (including boar).
🚫 Please don’t put out bird feed where boar could reach it.

Thank you for helping protect the Forest’s wildlife 💚

02/06/2026

30/05/2026

22/05/2026

Looking for low‑cost adventures this May half‑term? 🌲

The Forest of Dean has you covered! There’s something for everyone, without breaking the bank:

👣 Beautiful walks for all ages and abilities
🚴 Family‑friendly cycling routes
🛝 Children's play area at Beechenhurst
🧹 Room on the Broom Trail
🐾 Feel Good Forest Trail
🎶 Outdoor musical instruments
🗺️ Gruffalo Orienteering courses

Plan your perfect day out 👉 www.forestryengland.uk/the-forest-of-dean

22/05/2026

May half-term is nearly here, and the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley has plenty to offer. Here are five ideas for the week worth knowing about. 👇

🌲 Room on the Broom Trail! Julia Donaldson's much-loved story comes to life along a woodland trail, managed by The Forest of Dean and Wye Valley A genuinely lovely way to keep younger explorers moving through the trees.

🍓 Forest Showcase Food Festival at Speech House Hotel (24th May) Over 120 local food producers, chefs and makers gather in the grounds of the historic Speech House Hotel for what is one of the best food events of the year. Also, there is a dedicated children's garden area!

🧀 Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill (25th May) One of the most wonderfully eccentric events in the British calendar, and it happens right on our doorstep. Competitors hurl themselves down a near-vertical hill in pursuit of a wheel of Double Gloucester. Slightly crazy family entertainment for the day, but you won’t forget it!

🏛️ May Half Term at Dean Heritage Centre The Dean Heritage Centre has put together a week of outdoor exploration activities across their five-acre woodland site for half term.

🦌 Wildlife Safaris with Wildlife Safaris Forest of Dean run both daytime and evening guided wildlife walks through the Forest during half term, and late May is one of the best times of year to be out in the woods. Wild boars are regularly spotted on these tours!

Find full details and booking links for all of these at visitdeanwye.co.uk

20/05/2026

Happy World Bee Day! 🐝

Spring is when the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley really starts to hum. As the wildflower meadows, hedgerows and woodland edges come into bloom, bees wake up and start enjoying this season as much as we do!

A few things you might not know: 👇

🌼 The UK is home to around 270 species of bee!
🌼 A single red mason bee pollinates more effectively than a honeybee.
🌼 Wildflower meadows in the UK have declined by 97% in the last century, making natural landscapes like the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley even more important.

These ancient woodlands, meadows and riverbanks provide exactly the kind of habitat these bees need.