FOREST born Sue Law has taken such umbrage at a guide book's rude remarks about Cinderford she is writing her own book about the town.
"The Lonely Planet guide to the UK included a mention of the Forest of Dean, but when it came to Cinderford it basically said 'Don't bother to to stop'," she told the Review this week.
Born a Wozencroft at Shapridge in the Flaxley valley, she went to school at Plump Hill and then Cinderford's East Dean Grammar School.
"When I was little, Mum and I caught the bus from Gunn's Mill to go shopping in Cinderford each week.
"It was a warm and friendly place – everyone knew everyone else. Our main interest then was looking in the shop windows.
"Since the guidebook's comments, I've looked above the rooftops – and it's so darn beautiful. The woodlands are all around, and last week you could see right into Wales."
After leaving school she worked at Cheltenham's GCHQ, where she met husband David. Stopping work to raise their two sons, she wrote for local magazines – and compiled the 'Ghosts of the Forest of Dean' booklet republished last week.
She started painting watercolours, had a small gallery of her own for a time, and has exhibitions around the area. She and David now live in Winchcombe, near Cheltenham, but her family remains numerous around the north Forest.
"I have provisionally titled the book 'A Celebration of Cinderford'," she says. "I want to get memories from people about what is the essence of the town.
"I am going to go out sketching, so the book will contain scenes from the past and present. A lot of people moving into the Forest don't know what it was like.
"I was in an estate agent's and a couple were looking for a house. 'Anywhere except Cinderford,' they said. Well, I now want to wave the flag for Cinderford!"