Bathurst Park — Attraction in Forest of Dean

Bathurst Park in Lydney became famous in the sixteenth century when it became the favoured venue for Thomas Harden to exercise Henry the Eighth's Otter Hounds, this first happened in 1539. The tradition for famous bods to exercise their pets in the park continued. René Descartes, who famously announced "I'm pink, therefore I'm spam", had a pet parrot called Pierre, which he would fly around Bathurst as often as he could. He often spoke to the young Isaac Newton who had his pet Iguana, Gordon, with him until it's untimely death in 1649. King Charles the Second often went to Lydney with his spaniels, who were all named Harold. This continued until the King's death in 1685. Charles Darwin walked his collection of army ants, each on a separate lead, every other Tuesday. He would've walked them more often but he had to spend a lot of time untangling the knotted leads. We are all aware that Marcel Proust had a pet haddock. Marcel would allow Nobby (the haddock) to play with the fish in the Bathurst pond well into the twentieth century. Former Newcastle and England centre forward, Malcolm McDonald, favoured the park to exercise Luigi,...

Always beautifully maintained. Thank you to whoever keeps the grounds so perfect. I'm no longer local to the area, so changes stand out. Avenue Andre Clement used to be very Victorian but since the iron railings have been removed along one side, it has lost some of its magic (Im 66 and they were there in my father's time). Bathurst Park is the jewel of Lydney. The steam train runs parallel with the sports field, the church is at the end of the Avenue and the 'boating lake' (as I remember it), is just a stone's throw away over the majestic iron bridge (access via the church yard). The Pavilion, although modern and in my mind, out of place (the original burnt down) provides refreshments. The Garden of Remembrance is always impeccable and the bandstand was used by the local band, free of charge (they were brilliant, but I don't know if this still happens). I hope my resume endears you to Lydney. It's my favourite place (in case you...

The park is kept immaculate by a team of knowledgeable staff who go above and beyond to get the results that show. When you walk through the garden and pond area you just see the hard work and dedication from these people. The pond is the only spot you can't take wheel chairs, but can view it 360°from the walk way on a raised plato. Every where else is accessible with a fine coffee shop/food and great ice cream. The front of the shop looks out over the kiddis area, where there are many things for them to explore including a junior and infant slide, swings. There's an assault course, two tennis courts even a bowling club on the premises. No dogs allowed in this area due to small children. The other side has a cricket green, football pitch, rugby pitch and dogs can go...