Hope Mansell

Ruardyn Castle was a manor house in the village of Ruardean. Its ruins have been scheduled as an ancient monument.It was originally a manor house built in Norman times, but because of its strategic importance it was crenellated in 1311 and became a castle. The surviving evidence suggests the site comprised a courtyard, flanked by short ranges of buildings to the north east and south west, with a tower in the western corner. A gatehouse stood to the south east, with a hollow way leading from it towards the parish church. The site was probably enclosed by a curtain wall. The castle suffered major damage during the English Civil war in the 17th century.Nowadays, little remains of the castle, just large mounds with some stone wall surviving on the steep bank side. By the size of the landscape that it once stood, it is suggested that it was of considerable size. Its ruins can be found in the field behind St. John the Baptist church.

Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the North West of Cinderford. It is situated on a hillside with views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the village's industrial history, but once it was a centre for iron-ore smelting furnaces, forges and coal mines. The Norman castle, now little more than a mound, commanded the shortest route from Gloucester Castle to the Welsh Marches and the Wye Valley.

Drybrook is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England.

The Lea Bailey Light Railway is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railway in the United Kingdom. It is built on the site of the Bailey Level Gold Mine An attempt was made in 2003 by the owners of Clearwell Caves to open the mine as a tourist attraction, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. In 2012, a small group from the Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club discovered the mine and a quantity of disused railway equipment and proposed to the owners that a volunteer-led project could start work on restoring the site. As of 2014, two locomotives and a number of wagons have been moved to Lea Bailey from storage at Clearwell Caves or the nearby Hawthorn Tunnel.Part of the railway is laid on the trackbed of the disused Mitcheldean Road & Forest of Dean Junction Railway. In 2013 the Lea Bailey Light Railway Society was formed; its members act as volunteers, undertaking all aspects of work on the site. A regular free newsletter is produced and sent out by e-mail.

Ruardean Woodside is a village in Gloucestershire, England, located in the Forest of Dean and tucked away behind Ruardean Hill and Brierley. There is a primary school and a village hall. The Roebuck was the last of the local pubs to close.

Ruardean Hill is a prominent hill and a village in the English county of Gloucestershire, 20 km (12 mi) west of Gloucester. It lies in the Forest of Dean, in the parish of Drybrook. The southern slopes are wooded and are part of the northern edge of the Forest of Dean. The hill forms part of a low range of hills separating the River Severn from the River Wye. The hill's summit is the highest point in the Forest of Dean. A mostly friendly community, there is a local post office and village shop in neighbouring Ruardean Woodside. The village and surrounding areas are well served by Ruardean Hill Sports and Social Club.

Bailey Level is a former gold mine and iron mine in the Forest of Dean, England. The mine and surface features are currently managed by volunteer members of Lea Bailey Light Railway Society. The gold mine was started by the Chastan Syndicate in 1906. Shares were offered at £1 each (equivalent to £114 in 2021). Some 75,000 shares were sold. (equivalent to £8,582,466 in 2021) However, test workings at Lea Bailey and nearby Staple Edge concluded that the small amount of gold present could not be extracted economically and the syndicate was wound up in 1908.The mine was later extended and some 3,000 long tons (3,048 t; 3,360 short tons) of iron ore were extracted — a small amount compared to the 150,000 long tons (152,407 t; 168,000 short tons) extracted from the nearby Wigpool Ironstone Mine.

Drybrook Halt railway station served the village of Drybrook, Gloucestershire, England, from 1907 to 1930 on the Mitcheldean Road & Forest of Dean Junction Railway.

Puddlebrook Quarry (grid reference SO646183) is a 0.7-hectare (1.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, near Drybrook notified in 1986. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).The Quarry is north of Mitcheldean Meend Marsh which is a nature reserve.

The Pludds is a hamlet in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England (grid reference SO617161). Lydbrook and Joys Green are to the west, Ruardean is to the north, and Ruardean Woodside is to the east. The Pludds has a village hall.

Weston under Penyard is a small village in Herefordshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 1,007.It lies on the A40 road two miles east of Ross-on-Wye. The Penyard is a prominent hill.

Mitcheldean Meend Marsh (grid reference SO647180) is a 0.7-hectare (1.7-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire in the Forest of Dean. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).The site is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust under lease from the Forestry Commission since 1983.