Lydney

Lydney is a town in Gloucestershire on the north bank of the Severn estuary, 9 miles from the Welsh border at Chepstow. It grew up as a small port in the 18th and 19th century, and in 2011 its population was 8766. The main reason to visit is to explore the Forest of Dean to the north.

Get in
By train from London Paddington take the hourly Cardiff and Swansea train and change at Newport for the train to Gloucester. Westbound from Gloucester that train trundles on from Lydney to Chepstow, Newport and Cardiff then winds up the Llynfi Valley to Maesteg.

Trains run hourly across the Midlands from Nottingham via Birmingham New St, Cheltenham and  Gloucester to Lydney, continuing to Newport and Cardiff.

is a mile south of town centre.

Stagecoach West Bus 23 runs hourly from Gloucester to Lydney (50 min) and continues to Coleford. Don't take Bus 24 which ambles through Cinderford, Soudley and Blakeney, almost two hours to Lydney then on to Chepstow.

Bus 27 runs three times M-Sa between Lydney, Whitecroft and Cinderford.

is just a draughty square on Hams Rd east side of town centre.

By road follow A48, which hugs the north bank of the Severn. Cross the river either to the south by M48, or to the north at Gloucester.

Get around
Walk around town, but you need wheels for the Forest of Dean.

There are several taxi companies operating in Lydney. It is advisable to book in advance as, especially during peak times, supply is limited.

Bus 24 from Gloucester ambles through Cinderford, Soudley and Blakeney, taking almost two hours to Lydney, then on to Chepstow.

Bus 27 runs three times M-Sa between Lydney, Whitecroft and Cinderford.

Holders of English concessionary bus passes may use these as far as Chepstow in Wales, conversely Welsh pass holders may use them as far east as Lydney.

See

 * was built in 1810 at the outflow of the River Lyd - its lower mile is a canal to allow boats to reach the village. In 2020 the lock gates broke so the harbour has silted up and is unusable.

Do

 * is in Tidenham west on A48, see Chepstow.
 * Study maggots on corpses: Lydney was the scene of one of the first murders solved by forensic entomology. Flies quickly alight on dead bodies and lay eggs, which hatch into maggots, which go through a series of moult cycles before buzzing off as mature flies. The stage of the maggots indicates when the body came to lie there. In 1964 the notable pathologist Prof Keith Simpson in this way identified the date of death of a rotting corpse in Lydney, which helped identify the victim and bring the culprit to justice. However it wasn't the very first example, as in 1247 AD Song Ci (宋慈) of Fujian, China, documented a murder solved by blow-flies.

Connect
As of June 2021, Lydney has 4G from EE and O2, but a poor signal from Three and Vodafone. 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

 * Forest of Dean is an ancient woodland, meaning it was a hive of industry in them there days. Medieval folk depended upon forest trades such as charcoal-making, and law and hoary custom fosters individual mining for coal and iron ore.
 * Chepstow is across the border in Wales, where it's known as Cas-gwent. Go to the races, and explore the scenic Wye valley. The river defines the border.
 * Gloucester is a fine old cathedral city.