OUR talk on September 29, entitled A Year in the Life of the Batsford Arboretum, was given by Sue Burn, the propagator education supervisor of that establishment.

Its origins are to be found in the building of Batsford Redesdale, a "wild garden" which subsequent owners developed further.

After the Second World War started the site suffered neglect and many plants and trees were lost.

However, change of ownership in 1956 saw restoration taking place and the creation of an arboretum around the bones of the wild garden.

In 1984 a charitable trust, the Batsford Foundation, was set up to ensure its future.

The talk was accompanied by a number of slides illustrating the title, the time cycle of various species ensuring a continual exhibition of new growth.

The arboretum has attracted a wide variety of wildlife, not all of it welcome, as squirrels and roe deer can cause damage.

There is a large badger population but they cause little trouble.

Amazingly, only two full time workers keep things in order, but they are assisted by many volunteers, who are interested in that sort of work.

School visits are encouraged to educate children to respect nature in this high technological age.

Our talk on October 13, entitled The Free Miners of the Forest of Dean, was given by Ian Hayes, a society member.

The Free Mining tradition, unique to this area, dates back at least 700 years.

It allows a miner, born in a specified area, and who has worked for a year and a day in a local mine, to work a claim in the forest.

Originally there were deep mines in the centre of the forest, all of which had been closed by 1965, but small mines continue to function.

In these access to the coal face is by means of a tunnel driven into the hillside.

The slides accompanying the talk illustrated many artefacts used in mining and still remaining in situ. These include tramroads used for the conveyance of the coal when mined and which were still in action well into the last century.

Tramways within the mines used for moving tubs around are still to be found.

The number of active Free Miners is now considerably reduced.

The harsh conditions and potential dangers are a disincentive and there are now many abandoned sites.

One of these, Hopewell Colliery, has been turned into a mining museum.

Guided underground tours enable visitors to walk through the mine workings to see the conditions in which the miners worked.