Cinmit one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Cinmit here.

I have walked this route multiple times from my home in Mitcheldean to the cinema in Cinderford. There is only one significant road crossing (around Plump Hill). And always the chance of seeing wild boar around Edge Hill bog!.

I walked this route on 8.5.2022 and found no problems or any need to suggest a better alternative. My direction was from Mitcheldean to Cinderford but since it's named Cinmit I have ordered my comments below from Cinderford to Mitcheldean.

There is a great deal of variety in a short distance due to the route crossing several different rock types with distinct associated building materials, landscapes and wildlife habitats.

Waymarking is best across Forestry Commission land and is patchy elsewhere and pretty much absent in urban areas.

Cinderford is an interesting town with a proud industrial heritage. Near Cinderford bus station you will find a mural celebrating the mining heritage of the Forest of Dean (photograph 8). Just up the hill from the mural is a functioning cinema with an old facade (photograph 9). Nearby is "The Fern", which lays claim to being "the only gastropub in Cinderford".

North of Cinderford the route crosses a patch of heathland (photograph 7) on which I fancy I heard a nightjar in broad daylight - probably wishful thinking. Further north you will pass among tall communication masts sited on the route's highest point, 279 masl; these masts are prominent in distant views for miles across the region (photograph 6).

On the descending track towards the A4136 crossing, look out for a boulder that blocks vehicle access to a branch track to the right. If you take this branch track and cross a stile into the enclosed area you can mosey around to see a quarry where the markedly steep dip of the sedimentary rock layers is exposed (photograph 4). Nearby - partly protected by a fence - is the concrete cap of Edge Hill mine shaft, sunk in 1837* (photograph 5). Timing the drop of a stone through the grating set into the concrete cap usually gives a time of 5 seconds before a faint final "clack" is heard deep below, indicating a depth of at least 400 feet (s=ut + 0.5 x a x t squared - long-remembered thanks to my Maths and Physics teachers).

Once off the concrete cap and safely across the A4136, look for a path left to view a very different habitat - a fine pond (photograph 3).

Just before starting the steep descent to Mitcheldean, look out for the walled enclosure of "The Wilderness", a residential centre for Gloucestershire schoolchildren for more than 50 years (photograph 2). On the steep descent itself, it is worth pausing to take in the view of Mitcheldean in the foreground, with May Hill in the near distance and the Malvern Hills in the far distance (photograph 1).

N.B. there's a great loop walk to be had by returning to Cinderford via the Wysis Way to Steam Mills where you can pick up the Cinderford Linear Park with its informative interpretation panels all the way to Ruspidge Halt.

*David E. Bick, "The Old Industries of Dean", pub. The Pound House, 1980, page 42. Also, a detailed history of this iron mine by Dave Tuffley appears on pages 8 to 13 of the Winter 2012 edition, Volume 150, of the Royal Forest of Dean Caving Club's newsletter: http://www.zen159313.zen.co.uk/rfdcc/resources/newsletters/Newsletter_150.pdf
According to the above history the shaft was dug to about 650 feet, is oval in cross-section, 16' by 8', is solid masonry lined and accommodated a water pumping mechanism and two ore carts, one ascending and one descending.

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