The Bixslade valley is packed with the industrial history of the Forest, including mines, quarries, tramways, disused mine shafts and adits and a monument to a mining disaster. The valley still houses a working mine, worked by Freeminers.
There are some walk leaflets available locally that explore the Bixslade valley and our ‘Geology of the Forest’ project team created the ‘Geo Heritage of the Dean’ App, including a route through the Bixslade valley. For more about our Geo Heritage App see Geology of our Forest.
The 'Reading the Forest' project team is exploring ways in which to share information about the Freeminers story, including details about the sites relating to the various mines, tramways, monuments and quarries to weave a story that will depict the industrial heritage and the life that was once common in the Dean. This will help bring the Freeminers' traditional practices to life and encourage people to find out more, linking to 'The Future of Freemining' project and the Hopewell colliery underground tour.