DOZENS of pithead sites are tucked away in the Forest of Dean – some only metres from busy roads but others are harder to find, hidden away in ferny glades just waiting to be discovered.

Now Foresters and visitors who want to find out more about the district’s hidden past will be delighted that the series of authoritative ‘Mines Trail’ leaflets have once again become available.

They are: the Speculation Trail, the New Fancy Trail, and the Cannop Ponds Trail.

First produced a decade ago by the Forest of Dean Local History Society as part of its Miners’ Memorial project, the leaflets have become a mainstay for historians and walkers, containing pen pictures and photographs of more than 30 different mines.

The original content was written by John Sheraton, with the maps provided by former history society chairman Ron Beard.

The superb photographs were contributed by vice-president Ian Pope and the whole thing was designed by John Precious.

Society vice-president Keith Walker explained : “The mines trails leaflets were an immediate success but they had become increasingly difficult to find.

“Now the society has joined forces with members of the Forest of Dean group of the Ramblers’ Association to update and add to the content and I’m delighted to say they are now available in time for Easter.

“There is now a wealth of information on each of the 36 mine and quarry sites, and even if you don’t intend to walk them they are interesting in themselves.”

Mr Walker was joined by keen historians and ramblers Cheryl Mayo and Ron Beard and between them they have brought the project up to date with detail of the following sites.

Speculation Trail: Speculation, Trafalgar, Strip and At It, New Bowson, Winning, Duck, Nelson, Meadow Cliff, Regulator, Whimsey, Crump Mea­dow, Northern United, Churchly, Foxes Bridge and Lightmoor.

New Fancy Trail: New Fancy, Parkend, Wellington, Howbeach, Morse’s Level, Standfast, Rockall Ditches, Horse Engine, Moseley Green and Mallards Pike.

Cannop Ponds Trail: Mine Train Quarry, Buckholt Level, Cannop, Bixslade, Hopewell, Speech House Hill, Bixhead Quarries, Wimberry, Rose-in-Hand, Whitelea Level.

The leaflets are available throughout the forest and through the society’s website.

•There’s said to be a novel in all of us, but where do you start, and how do you create a plausible illusion of period authenticity?

The answer may just be provided by top Forest author Andrew Taylor in a talk to history society members to be held at Coleford Baptist Hall in Newland Street, on Friday evening (March 23) at 7.30pm.

Mr Taylor has set a number of of his books – including the Lydmouth detective series – in Forest of Dean settings.

He says: “For me, researching the raw material of a historical setting is only the first stage. Creating a plausible illusion of period authenticity is a much harder job. It requires analysis, selection and interpretation, using different tools from those of academic historians.

“How far should novelists try to relocate historical dialogue? How should we portray issues like race, morality and gender which our ancestors saw very differently from us? How do we avoid the curse of hindsight and see the world through the eyes of people living in another time?”