Author: Paul Mason   

The industrial region north of Cinderford has a character all of its own, which has not been lost even though much of that industry has disappeared. The road to Drybrook winds its way through two small communities, whose names ­ Steam Mills and Nailbridge ­ point to their industrial origins.
Drybrook itself was established in a small cleft at the end of the eastern valley of Dean but has since spread in all directions as its population has grown. Not an attractive village, which even its inhabitants admit, Drybrook retains a strong sense of community spirit born of its mining background, that harks back to an age now lost in much of the rest of the Forest and which makes its sports teams feared in the locality .

The author, who was born and grew up in Drybrook, takes a nostalgic tour of this most interesting part of the Forest of Dean and along the way shows us that its beauty has been much obscured by 20th century alterations