AN American author and expert on labyrinths officially opened a new pathway at the Asha Centre in Flaxley.

Zara Remander flew in from the United States to see the labyrinth which was created by Forest people.

The design of the labyrinth is based on one in Chartres cathedral in France that dates back to the medieval period.

Ms Remander is the author of Labyrinths: Journeys of Healing, Stories of Grace.

She said: “I’m overwhelmed by how beautiful this is.

“I’ve been in labyrinths all over the United States and England and this has a particular grace with the seclusion.

“It has been planned as a place of healing and as a place of reconciliation.

“This is a pilgrimage site – it doesn’t really matter how far you go, it’s the depth you reach.” Asha founder Zerbanoo Gifford said the area used to be a dump but was declared ‘sacred’ by druids who then planted traditional English varieties of trees.

She said: “The druids have their annual conference at the centre and they planted old English trees.

“This space was a dump and they said it was very sacred.

“It just came to us that we should do a labyrinth.”