Queen of the Forests

Advantages: Gorgeous location, so much to see and do
Disadvantages: None!

...I've lived in the Forest of Dean my whole life (nearly 33 years) and completely taken it for granted! It's really only been in the last few years, since we had our son, that we have started to enjoy our home, with it's breathtaking scenery, abundance of family activities and friendly atmposphere, so I thought I would share it all with you. Brace yourselves, it's a long one! Here comes the history bit! The Forest of Dean was firstly recognised by the Saxons and covers 110 square kilometers or 27000 acres of woodland. It is one of the few remaining Royal forests left in England and has a rich history as a favourite hunting ground for many of our historical kings. The vast amount of woodland is home to many animals and birds, but Forest pride is mainly given to the beautiful fallow deer. There are about 400 here, of which...

watkins11 29.04.2008 (30.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of The Forest of Dean

Magical forests

Advantages: idyllic, beautiful......plenty of woodland!!!
Disadvantages: quiet for those party people!!!

...claim to fame was that i nearly ran over Billie Piper whilst speeding through Ellwood!! Well i didn't expect a great big film crew round the corner did i!!! For more info on Clearwell caves please visit their website www.clearwellcaves.co.uk - Puzzle Wood Again this is in Coleford, and a very fun day out for all the family....as the name suggests it's a very enchanting 14 acre wood featuring mazes and a pre roman open iron ore mine. There are also farm animals of all kinds for the kids to pet and drool over!!! - Beechenhurst Lodge This is one of the very many popular sites in the forest. As the name suggests it's a lodge (cafe and art gallery) in the middle of the woods!! The main fetaure of Beechenhurst is the "sculpture trail" This is a series of trails featuring amazing sculptures from vaious artists at certain points. It fetaures...

wellibelli 19.11.2006 (26.11.2006) · Read review
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Review of The Forest of Dean

I saw some Monkey Business in the Forest!

Advantages: Fascinating to watch monkeys at close quarters
Disadvantages: Poorly designed facilities, cafe expensive, not a whole day's experience

...With two kids and a mother in law to entertain during the Summer holidays we decided to take our little monkeys out for a trip in the forest. Trentham Monkey Forest in Staffordshire is within half an hour's drive of my home town, so it's a place that we've visited on several occasions now. The concept is apparantly unique within the UK as the forest is home to over 140 Barbary Macaque monkeys who are free to roam as they please, within the grounds of a 60 acre enclosure. On arrival On previous visits, we've just walked straight through to the kiosk and purchased our tickets but on our last visit (mid-August, so at the peak of children's summer holidays) we found two lengthy queues at the entrance. Even more annoying was the discovery that we'd joined the 'cash only' queue which was indicated by a sign that was only visible...

jo-1976 28.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Trentham Monkey Forest

The Sunflower Forest - Torey Hayden

Advantages: Gripping, Informative, Easy To Read
Disadvantages: Slow To Start

...brushed away as I read on. The Sunflower Forest though slow to start really lured me in and got me hooked. By the 6th chapter I had fallen for the plot hook line and sinker and was so engrossed that once again I was reading a book I couldn't put down (much to my boyfriends disgust). The Sunflower Forest tells the story of a family living in Kansas, the two children Lesley the eldest and Megan the youngest born to a Hungarian mother and an Irish/American father. As a family they had travelled far and wide, never settling in one place for too long with mama always keen to move on when she wasn't happy, and daddy always happy to oblige. The result of these frequent moves was two children who often struggled to make close friends or form strong bonds with their peers. Once in Kansas, and settled mama had "spells" these "spells" are cleverly...

carysb 12.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Sunflower Forest - Torey L. Hayden

Reign Forest

Advantages: A compelling and interesting read
Disadvantages: It's 883 pages long

...I have read many of Rutherfurd's books and have rarely been disappointed. "The Forest" is no exception and covers the period from 1099 to 2000. The New Forest wasn't touched by all of the historical events of England but Rutherfurd has managed to use the key events that shaped its progress. If you are familiar with the New Forest you will recognise many of the names of villages such as Boldre, Lymington, Brockenhurst and many more. This familiarity adds to the atmosphere of the story. The skill of Rutherfurd is that he creates fictional families that are then woven into the historical facts and legends of the period. In this way you are both entertained and also learn a little of the history of the area. There is always a link from one period to the next, which makes you care about the fortunes of the various characters. You...

silver40 21.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Forest - Edward Rutherford

Monkey Forest is Fantastic

Advantages: Different every time you visit, good for kids
Disadvantages: Uphill, not suitable for people with walking difficulties or wheelchairs

...I've been to Trentham Monkey Forest on three occasions and now and I am so looking forward to going again when the weather warms up a little this year. Its a little to cold to wander round at the moment. Initially when I went to the Monkey Forest for the second time, I did actually wonder why I was bothering as I had been before and at the end of the day what's going to be different the second time from the first but it is actually a different experience every time. Trentham Monkey Forest is a 60 acre forest, home to over 140 free roaming Barbary macaques. The Barbary macaque, normally would be found in the mountains of ALgeria and Morocco, possibly Gibraltar and is a tail-less Macaque. The animal is classed as a monkey as opposed to an ape, there is normally confusion over this due to it being tail-less. At the moment there are...

blondgem 12.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Trentham Monkey Forest

A wonderful family holiday at Elvden Forest!

Advantages: so family friendly
Disadvantages: csan be pricey

...We went to Elvden Forest this year in June for 4 nights and stayed in a New Woodland Lodge suitable for dogs (so on the perimeter). We managed to get a money off code that meant we only paid around £440 for the 4 nights. Okay so we arrived at around 3ish which was the earliest that you could get into your accomodation and there was an abolutely mammoth queue from the entrance through the carpark then to your lodge- it also didnt help that since we were on the perimeter we had the farthest to go but heyho! Once we finally got to our lodge we were really pleased as you are literally in the wood and we could not see anyother accomodation sitting from our sofa gazing outside. The actual lodge was wonderful being very modern and it had pretty much everything we could need including a dishwasher,microwave, oven, toaster and all crockery...

f1re_cr4cker 16.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Center Parcs

Forest Park Hotel - Platres - Cyprus - Simply Brilliant

Advantages: Family Friendly - Exceptional Service - Great Value and Location
Disadvantages: None

...other tourist hot spots, but also makes for some challenging walking (both uphill and down). The town is well served by the usual amenities ? it?s chock full of taverna?s and eateries of varying distinction, as well as craft shops, tat shops, a couple of local banks, a pharmacy, a tourist information office based at the town hall (useful for local excursions) and a police station. There are also a couple of small arcades, which have rides for toddlers and young children, air hockey, table football video games and other amusements. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF THE PROPERTY The excellent, family-run, Forest Park Hotel, the only four star property in Plátres, is on the outskirts of the town, and, after passing through an archway with the hotel name tastefully emblazoned on it, you drive up a winding, pine tree lined drive, past the pool...

Hishyeness 02.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Forest Park Hotel, Cyprus

Lodge in the Forest

Advantages: Central location in New Forest, swimming pool
Disadvantages: kids not like food

...The Forest Lodge Hotel was built in 1820 and was used as a hunting box by King George IV. The hotel retains much of its Georgian architecture and stands in its own grounds. It is located on the outskirts of the village of Lyndhurst in the heart of The New Forest in Hampshire. It is part of a chain of 4 hotels that come under the banner of New Forest Country House Hotels. This means that each hotel can be centrally booked and have the same cost and promotions. The guests have use of the other hotels' facilities but this is not that relevant as, even though they are all in The New Forest, they are not exactly round the corner from each other and anyway the facilities are much the same in them all. My family, including two small children, stayed half board within a midweek break promotion. This meant that the children were accommodated...

imogen49 21.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Forest Lodge Hotel, Southampton

The Forest

Advantages: excellent character development, historical accuracy
Disadvantages: sometimes distracted from thread of story by 'history lessons'

...If you ask a typical school student they will usually tell you that their most boring subject is history, so full of dates and musty, irrelevant seeming facts that it is hard to keep your eyes open. Well, Edward Rutherford in his daring and epic novel series beginning with the international best seller 'Sarum' has challenged this view of history (with one of those glove slap across the face gestures I am sure) and beaten it in a bloody duel. 'The Forest' is Edward Rutherford's fourth novel and shares many of the conventions of his last three (Sarum, Russka and London) - following the lives of a small group of families interconnected through generations ('The Forest' beginning in 1099 and stretching to April 2000) and centred in the same small area of land which is both shaped by them and shapes them. Despite being a work...

ShoeLace 19.04.2003 · Read review
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Review of The Forest - Edward Rutherford