THERE was a first for the Forest of Dean on Saturday as a display by local historians won top spot at the County Local History Association’s annual Local History Day.

Against formidable opposition from many other history societies, the Forest’s exhibition — masterminded by vice-chairman Mary Sullivan, of Lydbrook, on the theme of Gardens for Fun, Food and Flowers — was voted into top place in the day-long event held at Churchdown Community Centre.

The varied display included an insight into the making of the magnificent woodland garden at Lydney Park Estate, while featuring a typical Forest cottage garden designed to provide year-round vegetables for a family.

The display will now become the first to be featured at the new county ‘Archive Hub’ to be opened in Gloucester later this year. Locally, the exhibition will be shown at the Forest Society’s April meeting to be held at the West Dean Centre, Bream, on April 8.

It was the first time the Forest has won ‘Best Display’, and there was further success when vice-president Keith Walker was named a joint runner-up for the annual Bryan Gerrard Award following his article on Forest road-building published in the society’s annual journal, The New Regard.

This Friday, March 24, the society moves away from Bream to hold a meeting in the Village Hall at Blakeney (7.30pm). Membership secretary Cheryl Mayo, who lives in the village, said it was hoped the meeting would encourage local residents to attend and consider joining the society which now has a membership of over 300.

The talk is by Peter Strong, a well known Monmouthshire historian who is chairman of Caldicot Local History Society, and features a ‘Who done it?’ murder mystery with Forest of Dean connections.

The Murder of Kymin Bet is a Monmouth killing described by Mr Strong as a Prime Suspect case dating from 1828.