Following the removal of 'Place', the Forest of Dean Sculpture trail has recently gained two new (temporary) artworks.
Both are right at the start of the trail at Beechenhurst Lodge.
First up is "Charcoal Measure". It's basically a series of black lines on the ground, made from charcoal produced from burning the wood that made up Place. The lines map old coal mine workings in the forest. So that's two ways it links up with the history of the local area.
However the work itself is a little underwhelming. It had been there for about six weeks when I visited, and is already looking quite faded. I've read a lot of negative reaction and I was trying to be more open minded but really, it's just a few lines on the floor which you could easily miss/think nothing of.
The second new work is a bit more interesting. It's called "Sentient Forest", and is interactive!
The idea behind this one is that trees in a forest are somehow connected and can communicate with each other. When you pass the motion sensors, a series of lights radiate out from the bottom of one tree, then a second, then a third - as if the trees are passing on the message that someone is walking past. I did take some video but apparently I'm not good at holding the camera still!
Earlier this month we popped over to Bourton-on-the-Water, to visit Birdland.
I've been before a few years ago, and I think I probably took all the same pictures again - but nevermind!
My favourite birds are the penguins. They have King penguins and Humboldts, and we were there for the 3pm feeding session.
Humboldt Penguin
Other than penguins, there are obviously lots of other types of bird. Flamingos, emu, pelicans (including one 'on the loose' that was attempting to terrorise people), chickens, owls, finches, other birds. Lots of birds.
Oh, and parrots:
One thing that wasn't there when I last visited is "Jurassic Journey" trail - a series of model dinosaurs, complete with information boards and sound effect machines.
Stegosauruses, plus bonus duck
Possibly more aimed at children, I suspect..
Six weeks after our trip to La Rosière, I found myself on the exact same MAN-LYS flight heading out for another week of sliding down snowy mountains.
This time, La Plagne. Big resort, lots of snow, plenty of blue runs to keep me entertained. Most of the week was beautiful sunshine, and of course the scenery is lovely:
view from the Roche de Mio
After boot related pain and suffering somewhat spoilt my week in La Rosière, I invested in my own boots - and luckily for me, mid March counts as end of season sale so in theory I saved a bit of money. They're so much comfier than hire boots, and it's nice to know that mine are the only sweaty feet to use them. mmm.
I decided against ski school, partly because I hadn't really got a chance to practise much of what we were taught last time, and had found the whole thing a bit frustrating.
Instead, I booked myself a two hour private lesson. This was really good, if hard work - my instructor didn't teach me anything I hadn't already heard, but obviously she only had me to deal with, and I didn't have distractions from other members of the group being faster/slower/etc. (excuses excuses). Anyway, I got a lot of out it, and was feeling a lot more confident about my turns afterwards. I still resort to snowploughing if I'm tired/nervous, and I'm still a lot slower than I could/should be, but that'll improve with more practise, hopefully.
tags: Forest of Dean local walking 
