Perhaps the most iconic part of the Forest sculpture trail, last week Place was taken down.  It had been there since 1986, and had to be taken down because it had become too unstable.

Obviously this is a shame, as the 'Giant's Chair' is well loved.  But it was originally only supposed to exist for a year, and one of the charms of the sculpture trail is that things do evolve, rot, get reclaimed by nature etc.  Parts of the chair have been burned for charcoal, and I believe two of the legs have been left for wildlife.

This photo is from a visit in October 2010.

I remember visiting the sculpture trail when I was little, before all the trees around it grew up.  Back then it was visible from a distance, while in recently it's been a bit more hidden because of the trees - not that you can really hide a huge chair!

No announcements as yet as to what will replace it - hopefully something similarly impressive and long lasting.

The sculpture trail people have put together a nice tribute video, as well as a page of memories.

tags: Forest of Dean