The National Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £133,873 to the project in 2023. Since then, the Dean Heritage Centre has added over 1,000 literary objects and documents to its collection. Our amazing local volunteers have taken great care in conserving and cataloguing many items. These include playscripts, draft manuscripts, poems, photographs, letters, notebooks, children’s stories, and artworks. Since November 2024, they have dedicated over 460 hours to this project.

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This project will bring together a unique collection of material spanning more than 200 years, some written in local dialect, that reflects the landscape, people and places of the Forest of Dean. The literary heritage of the Forest of Dean is an important part of its wider cultural heritage. This new material demonstrates the incredible depth of creative talent that has come out of the Forest of Dean over the years.

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The new collection features unique materials, including:

• Previously unknown poems by ‘Forest Poetess’ Catherine Drew (1784–1867).

• Works by Leonard Clark OBE (1905–1981), a poet, biographer, and literary editor.

• Valerie Grosvenor Myer (1935–2007), known for her academic and biographical writing, wrote a never-before-seen novel.

• A memoir by Fred Boughton (1897-1985), a former collier and farmer, written in Forest dialect with a ‘Queen’s English’ translation.

• Forest Dialect playscripts and artworks by Harry Beddington, a playwright and humourist.

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The project is working with two local schools. It aims to create new teaching materials. This will engage and inspire young people with the lives and work of local writers.​​ We have also carried out a workshop about the project with Gloucestershire University students.

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To engage with more people and spread the word about the distinctive Forest literary heritage we have showcased the literary works in local libraries and held talks about the collection and local authors. See below for more opportunities to engage with the collection.

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Lists of Works

Click here to download a list of documents relating to Ralph Anstis

Click here to download a list of documents relating to Fred Boughton

Click here to download a list of documents relating to Catherine Drew

Click here to download a list of documents relating to Gladys Duberley

Click here to download a list of documents relating to Valerie Grosvenor Myer

Click here to download a list of documents relating to the MINTEC Players

Click here to download a list of documents relating to the Ruardean Drama Group

Click here to download a list of documents relating to Leonard Clark (incomplete as we are still cataloguing the Clark collection)

 

We are now cataloguing materials about other Forest authors. This includes Leonard Clark, Harry Beddington, F.W. Harvey, and Humphrey Phelps. We will make lists of documents for these authors available when we complete their full cataloguing. If you would like to enquire about these items, please get in touch.

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Artist in Residence

John Slater will be creating exciting and engaging works to link the Dean Heritage Centre collection with the FODWC project. Come and see him at work and chat to him!

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Upcoming events

• Backstage Gage talk on FODWC project at Dean Heritage Centre Gage room Wednesday 16th July 2pm 

• Lydney library exhibition and event in September 2025 (dates tbc)

• Talk on the FODWC project by Dr. Jason Griffiths on 27th September 2025 for Forest of Dean Local History Society (see their website for details)

• Article by Dr. Jason Griffiths on the project will be in the FODLHS journal The New Regard in October 2025

• Roger Deeks and Jo Durrant have been working on an exciting new podcast on Catherine Drew. Look out for this coming out later this year

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To view the collection

You can view the Forest of Dean Writers Collection, but please make an appointment first. For questions about the Forest of Dean Writers Collection, contact Nicola Wynn, the Collections Officer, at Nicola@deanheritagecentre.com.