Puzzlewood - a magical film forest and bingo at Whitemead campsite

What is Puzzlewood? It is a small forest of about 14 acres near Coleford in the Forest of Dean, in the west of England, full of mossy rocks, tree roots and narrow paths between the stones. Scenes from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "Doctor Who" and the TV series "Merlin" were filmed here. We visited in August 2019 with four kids, and it was one of the best days of our whole trip around Great Britain.

Before that we explored Cornwall, which we write about in our post Land's End with kids. The plan of the whole trip is in our post UK road trip with kids.

Whitemead Forest Park campsite

From Lady's Mile in Dawlish we drove north: 175 km, about 2 hours 15 minutes. We booked a pitch on pitchup.com at Whitemead Forest Park in Parkend, right in the middle of the Forest of Dean.

As usual, we cooked dinner by the car, in our kitchen in the boot of the Ford: that day it was chicken stew with rice.

Bingo and a concert at the campsite

In the evening we went to the campsite clubhouse to play bingo. It is a favourite evening game at British campsites: whole families sit at the tables and the host calls out the numbers. We played it again at a few more campsites later on.

After bingo there was a concert. Darrel, a tribute singer who performs as Olly Murs, the 2009 British X Factor finalist, sang his hits for us, and the kids danced under the coloured lights.

Puzzlewood: a magical forest from the films

In the morning it was only 5 km to Puzzlewood. At the entrance there is a wall of photos from the films and TV series made here, from "Merlin" to "Jack the Giant Slayer". Then the forest begins.

The paths go between rocks covered in green moss, over wooden bridges and steps, up and down. Every few minutes someone called "come here, it's even better here". The kids found dinosaurs, crocodiles and mice in the stones and roots. Our youngest did part of the walk on Dad's shoulders.

The map you get at the entrance shows numbered points to find in the forest, so our walk turned into a treasure hunt. We counted the numbers: five, six, seven... all the way to nine. The paths are a bit of a maze, so more than once we stood at a fork and wondered which way to go.

Where do the rocks in Puzzlewood come from?

They are what is left of old mines. People dug iron ore here already in the Iron Age and in Roman times, and erosion uncovered limestone caves and rocks. These formations are called "scowles". Over a mile of paths was laid out in the early 19th century. In 1848 workers found more than 3,000 Roman coins here in three clay jars.

On to Wales

From Puzzlewood we drove to Wales on local roads with a thousand bends. 216 km took us 3.5 hours. You can read what happened next in our post Wales in the rain: a playground in a church and the longest place name.

Practical info

Puzzlewood

• Location: near Coleford in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, about 5 km from Whitemead campsite in Parkend.
• Time: the walk and the hunt for numbered points took us the whole morning.
• Pushchairs: the paths are narrow, with stone steps, roots and bridges, so a baby carrier is a better idea (when we visited in 2019).
• Shoes: after rain the moss and soil are slippery, so wear shoes with a good grip.
• Check tickets, opening hours and booking on the Puzzlewood website before you go.

Whitemead Forest Park campsite

• Location: Parkend near Lydney, in the middle of the Forest of Dean.
• We booked an electric tent pitch on pitchup.com.
• In the evening there was bingo and a concert in the clubhouse (when we visited in 2019).