BEING a volunteer in any organisation has its ups and downs, but on occasion the positives make it all worthwhile.

This week the Dean Heritage Centre was visited by another group of volunteers from the Gloucestershire Archives for a conducted tour of the galleries, the grounds, the Gage Library and the archives.

The following day, the organiser of the visit was moved to send an effusive email which included the statement that: “I’ve already received very positive feedback from the attendees, and we greatly appreciated the opportunity to be shown round your wonderful centre.”

The whole purpose of the Dean Heritage Centre is to house and protect its unique collection of Forest artefacts that tell the story of our Dean Forest home from pre-historic times to the present day.

It is a standalone educational charity that receives no regular help from official sources, as is the case in Wales for example.

The five-acre site is run by a small staff of professionals with the help of the volunteers and depends on attendance by the public, the Friends and members, plus grants by organisations such as the Rotary Club of the Royal Forest of Dean for its income to continue to function.

As a result it must be run along business lines to generate the income needed to protect the collection.

There has been once again, I note, the recurring moan about the price of parking – which is still below the Forestry Commission rate.

In fact if you enter the centre through reception as a visitor, a Friend or a member, you receive your money back as part of the entry price.

During the time that I was a trustee, there used to be a parking donation box to help with the car park upkeep, but we were lucky to get a brass farthing on some days.

I have worked as a research and enquiries volunteer in the archives now for many years and I am still finding valuable documents, books, maps, films, audio recordings and objects concerning our ‘wonderful’ on-going history that were all donated through the generosity of the people of, or with connections to, the Forest.

Where else in the UK would you find 2,500 years of above and below ground heavy industry within an ancient Forest, which we know as the Dean, and have it recorded in full? 

As the author Harry Beddington once said: “If thou const read, write an’ reckon an’ think vor theezelf, the gate’s open.”

For people who are concerned about our Forest, personally and historically and wish to contribute, well, the Dean Heritage Centre gate is always open. 

This is a personal letter and is not officially on behalf of the DHC.

– John Belcher, Drybrook.