Castlemain Mill Holiday Cottages

27/07/2024

⚒ New trail update ⚒

Last week we shared news of a brand new trail being built. There is still a lot of work to be done but so much progress is being made!

We’re excited to share with you that this will be a green-graded trail.

It has been designed to be a stepping stone between the Colliers Trail and the blue-graded Verderers trail, and will be fully accessible for those riding adaptive bikes. It will also be suitable for towing bike trailers, or children riding balance bikes.

We think it will be a great addition to our trail network and will fill a gap that is currently missing. As well as being accessible, we hope that the trail will be exciting for riders of any level, on any kind of bike.

We’ll continue sharing updates as the build progresses over the summer.

10/07/2024

What a special week at Castlemain Mill in Parkend!!
After the Green Woodpecker family left two days ago then a juvenile Greater Spotted Woodpecker has arrived this morning to continue feeding on the same rotting log.
Amazing how nature supports everything.

08/07/2024

How lucky were we to witness a Green Woodpecker feeding her young at Castlemain Mill.

25/05/2024

It's our grand public opening today !🎊
We are ready and waiting to welcome you from 12noon - 5pm and our prices are still the same as 2023 😎

🩵Adults £4
🩵Children under 16 £2.50
🩵Under 3s Free

Don't forget we are a cash only facility for entrance fees and in the shop 💷

The shop is well stocked with all of the usual hot and cold, sweet and savoury treats and we have lots of lovely inflatables for sale 🦄🐊🐋 You can of course bring your own picnic if you prefer 🧺

Please note that the additional field we use for car parking is not available until the middle of June. This is due to the very wet weather. If we are busy today, then it may well become more difficult to park your car, so please be mindful of this and use the space we do have available with caution. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation with this🚗💙

We can't wait to see you all !
🩵The Trustees & Volunteers of Bathurst Pool 🩵

16/05/2024

12/04/2024

25/12/2023

Elaine, Tony, Millie and Peggy wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. We look forward to welcoming new and returning quests to Castlemain Mill Holiday Cottages in 2024
www.castlemainmill.com

15/12/2023

01/12/2023

VERDERERS DESCENT IS OPEN

The final descent on Verderers is back open, following the recent overhaul by Velosolutions. Take it easy on your first run as a few of the corners have changed, and as ever with a new surface, it could be loose in places.
There’s still a small diversion in at post 58, as that section needs a little more time to settle.

01/12/2023

We have exciting news…we are creating a new beaver enclosure in the Forest of Dean 💧

To prepare the site for the beaver release next year, we have just finished clearing vegetation from the proposed fence line at the site in Perryhay on Spruce Ride.

Beavers are an important species. They create habitats for many other plant, insect and mammal species, and their dams can change watercourses to potentially reduce flooding. They were once hunted to extinction but we are now working to reintroduce them across the country.

Following the successful project at Greathough Brook, experts from the Beaver Trust identified this new location, within the Blackpool Brook catchment, as a perfect place for beavers 🦫

We are proud to be working with them on this project and updates on the project will be posted on here regularly.

04/11/2023

Have you heard of Parkrun or do you do it? It is a FREE 5km walk/run and we have a very special local one at Mallards Pike - Forestry England. We welcome everyone at Castlemain Mill Holiday Cottages so if you want to get some exercise and meet the wonderful team at Mallards Pike parkrun let us know and we can advise on what to bring, what it is like etc as Tony (2nd marshall with the cowbell in the video!) is a regular tailwalker with Peggy our black lab or runner when his knee allows.
Wonderful scenery, one lap through the forest and super supportive volunteers. We hope to see you soon.

To celebrate doing my 100th Parkrun I headed to the Forest of Dean to have a go at Mallards Pike Parkrun.And what a location it is, beautiful! Throughly enjo...

23/10/2023

🦺Update on the Red Skills Area⛏️

If you've ridden Freeminers recently you will have seen that the old tabletops have been completely rebuilt by with some new features and a brand new drops line next door.

It's been a joint project with and we hope to have it ready to ride really soon - please be patient for now as there is still a bit of work to be done before we can get it open.

Once it's ready, you will be the first to know!

18/07/2023

15/06/2023

This teeny tiny bird is the firecrest. It is the UK's smallest bird weighing in at just 5-7grams!

Firecrests are very similar to goldcrests, however the firecrest's most distinctive feature is a bright white line above the eye, which is not present in goldcrests.

Tricky to spot due to its size, they can be seen here in the Forest of Dean, flying amongst the trees and bushes in search of tiny morsels like spiders, moth eggs and other small insects.

📷 Simon Bound

01/06/2023

The Post Office and Postage Stamp cafe new owners and their lovely staff welcome everyone, so pop in when you are next in Parkend.

Our new window seating 😍 come have a coffee and watch the world go by 🙂

28/05/2023

Juvenile Magpie on our fence at Castlemain Mill Holiday Cottages this morning.

24/05/2023

The hawthorn blossom is amazing this year. These photos have been taken from Castlemain Mill.

29/04/2023

Great news for the village. There will be longer opening hours, including bank holidays and the usual warm welcome to residents and visitors alike Parkend Village Shop.

19/04/2023

⛏ We've been busy this week making some changes to the last drop on the Drops Line of the Advanced Skills Area. Don't worry - we haven't changed the top slab or the landing so you can still jump it the same as before. Sometimes we have to make changes when areas become hot-spots for accidents, and this was one of them. The new layout will mean you can more easily progress up to clearing the whole gap.

It'll be back open in the next few days once all the work has settled 👍

04/04/2023

From today, work is starting on the Verderers (blue) trail to put in a new optional, technical, red-graded climb section.

This will go in the area of posts 53 to 54 (highlighted yellow on the map). This is the second, short, switchback climb that you come across on the trail.

This section of trail is temporarily closed with a diversion is in place, so please follow the signage. The diversion is very short (approx. 100m).

We expect the closure to last for 2 weeks, but we will keep you updated.

25/01/2023

Since their reintroduction in 2019 the pine martens have settled in well. Not only have they continued to breed each year, but ongoing monitoring has revealed that the martens have begun to expand their territories beyond the Forest, up the Wye Valley and towards the Brecon Beacons!

This is good news, something we expected and is a significant step for the survival of the species in the UK.

There are a number of volunteering opportunities to keep track of these amazing creatures from setting up camera traps to carrying out s**t surveys.

If you’d like to get involved and become a volunteer, you can email the pine marten project manager [email protected] to find out more.

📷Mark Hamblin

11/12/2022

Snowy start to the day in Parkend. So magical!

28/09/2022

Latest visitor taking advantage of the warm welcome at Castlemain Mill Holiday Cottages

21/09/2022

The new Adit trail launches this Saturday 24th September 😃
Adit is the long awaited extension to the red graded Freeminers trail and if you decided to take it on, it will add roughly 5.6 miles to your ride. Its construction has been a long journey with hundreds of volunteer hours spent crafting the new single track.
Visit our stand at this weekends where we will be setting up our table sale, holding a raffle for some great prizes and answering your questions about what we do and how you can get involved.

We will also be leading a guided ride on the new trail at 11am on Saturday, feel free to come and join us 😎