Longhope - May Hill Village - Longhope

Sean Meek

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Longhope - Little London - May Hill Village - Longhope

Longhope is a small village just outside the Forest Of Dean, most likely founded in Saxon times. The name means 'long enclosed valley', which perfectly describes the surrounding area.

The walk has a lot of variety and plenty to see, with a mixture of pasture, woodland and small villages. The large height gain comes from three hills that are climbed. The first two, Nottwood Hill and Huntley Hill, both have great views from the top across to the River Severn and Horseshoe Bend that can be clearly seen. Brights Hill which follows on from these two, is covered in woodland and has a very different feel. The highest hill in the area, May Hill, is then partly climbed as far as May Hill Village, which lies perched on its slopes.

From here the walk descends and heads back to Longhope, but on the way, something a bit different can be seen, as Hobbs Quarry is passed. Limestone was extracted from the quarry over one hundred years ago for farming and building. It is now a nature reserve, as the site has been reclaimed by nature. The rocks themselves are of particular interest, having the fossilised remains of coral reefs embedded in them; the whole area was under a shallow tropical sea 425 million years ago.

England - South West England - Gloucestershire - Forest of Dean

Features

Church, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Industrial Archaeology, Public Transport, Wildlife, Woodland

11/15/2018 - Sean Meek

The walk directions have now been updated throughout the whole walk.

8/19/2018 - Paul Crocker

This was definitely not an easy walk with many steep gradients from the off. Generally the paths were not well trodden and we came across a number of locked gates that had to be climbed over. Also, the instructions were for from clear and it took us an hour to cover the first mile and a half. We were totally lost in Blaisdon Wood (we had to rely on our phones to turn us around and get us in the general direction of Little London) and eventually had to ask a local the way. At about waypoint 16/17, we eventually gave up and turned around. heading back to Longhope via the A4136. Thank goodness there was a footpath alongside the road. We will attempt this one again (it's only the second time I have been beaten by a walk in 15 years) but will make sure that we have the OS map to help us.