Clearwell Caves

The beautiful cavern at Clearwell Caves

Many people will have heard of Clearwell Caves. They were voted the ‘Best Family Attraction in Gloucestershire’ by the Good Britain Guide 2003. The Caves are part of an extensive natural cave system surrounding the Forest of Dean and have been worked for ochre (natural paint pigment) and iron ore since the Neolithic period over 5000 years ago. Mining has created a cave/mine complex consisting of many miles of passageways, with hundreds of caverns. At Clearwell Caves, nine impressive caverns are open to visitors, with mining and geological displays throughout.

The wonderful atmosphere in the caves is never more evident than for the annual candle – lit Halloween party for 300 people. Colin & I went a few years ago – dressed as cartoon characters (we left it quite late to organise any costumes!) – and had a wonderful time. It really is highly recommended.

We also love the caves at Christmas, and have gone every year (even before Matthew was born). It is always beautifully decorated and the children can visit Father Christmas and choose a toy. There is also a craft fair. Then the last section of the caves is used to illustrate a story. It is always beautifully done and throughout the caves are “presents” marked with names. It’s always a challenge to find your name. Colin and Matthew always do better than me!

The Entrance Churn at Clearwell Caves

Even if you haven’t visited Clearwell Caves, you may have already seen it as in the past few years, the cavern has been used by the BBC to film four separate Dr Who episodes, two Merlin episodes and also Dalziel and Pascoe.

Clearwell Caves does provide an unusual day out for all the family as well as an exciting underground experience for all ages. We will post more information on any special events they hold throughout the year but in the meantime please visit their website for more details:
www.clearwellcaves.com

Our first post!

I am not a very technical person and fear that our two year old, Matthew, will soon outsmart me. So how I came to mention that I thought we should start blogging, and why on earth Colin thought I would be the best person to do it, is beyond me. I’ve also mentioned “twittering” and I fear the same outcome!

Well, as this is my first post, I guess I should tell you a bit about us. My name is Hari Fell, and myself and my husband, Colin, run the Tudor Farmhouse Hotel in the Royal Forest of Dean. We live on site and have a son, Matthew. Colin & I took over the running of the hotel from my parents, Owen & Eirwen, in December 2007 when Matthew was six months old. I had previously worked for my parents here prior to taking maternity leave. They bought the hotel in July 2003 and had moved back from Philadelphia, USA. I moved down from London to join them in their “retirement project”. Our move to the country was filmed for BBC 2′s Living the Dream. It was an interesting experience running a hotel for the first time and having cameras follow us. My mum and I were told off by the production team because we weren’t emotional enough and the film was a bit boring! In other words, we weren’t crying or shouting enough! I think they were disappointed that no major disaster befell us, but for our part we were just happy when the programme went out in February 2004 that the project had finished!

We have over the years had several other film crews to stay, including the team from To Buy or Not To Buy and a team from Optomen TV filming for a new cookery/lifestyle programme. Just last week, we had John Craven overnight. Meshell took the call for the booking and within minutes everyone in the hotel knew he was coming – she was sooo excited!

My aim for this blog is to let you see a bit about the life of the hotel (and all its characters), tell you a bit about our local suppliers and also about the area. I will be updating once a week. Until then, have a good week and enjoy the weather!

Colin, Hari & Matthew