In my last post I discussed a beautiful tenth century Irish poem in which a prince named Marvan describes the simple life he has chosen – that of a hermit living in a woodland hut – to his brother, the king of Connacht. It all sounds so idyllic that the king declares he’d rather relinquish his crown and live with Marvan in his peaceful haven. It must have been a timely post, because while we were away on a short holiday in the Wye Valley a couple of weeks ago, we found the perfect spot for just such a home. Not only would this place be the perfect setting for Marvan’s hut, it’s also the filming location used for many of the best scenes in our favourite medieval TV series.

For the past twenty years, since it first aired on BBC1 in the early Saturday evening slot, Merlin has been our favourite box set. The show was an imagining of the life and times of the young warlock Merlin when he first came into service of the then Prince Arthur of Camelot. We still watch it every Saturday evening, along with several glasses of wine, or mead of course.

Yes, I know, it’s a million miles from the gravitas of the literary, academic texts of the real Arthurian legends, but it could also be argued that folklore, by its very nature, has always changed with the times and adapted to different audiences. In this sense, Merlin is just another incarnation of the medieval tales. After all, the legends of King Arthur evolved and developed beyond recognition over many centuries between their origins back in the early Welsh and Brythonic oral tradition and Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth century definitive reworking, Le Morte D’Arthur. Even after that seminal text was produced, the stories of the Once and Future King continued to evolve, popping up in all kinds of guises in literature and on screen right up to the present day.

Besides, for someone like me who struggles to cope with modern life, Merlin offers a welcome respite, a portal into a fantastical, more appealing medieval world. It’s a bit of fun with great stories and characters, it’s filmic in its production style and much of the incidental music is positively sublime. So, you can imagine how excited we were to be visiting one of the show’s most frequented filming locations, and two particular spots that featured in some of our favourite episodes.

Welcome to Puzzlewood. Come in and be enchanted…

Puzzlewood is a privately owned, unique piece of ancient temperate rainforest nestling in the picturesque landscape of the Forest of Dean. Not only is it an all-too-rare example of surviving rainforest in the UK, it’s also of special geological interest owing to its unique natural rock formations, known as Scowles. These were formed through the erosion of a natural underground cave system formed in the limestone millions of years ago, and the uplift and erosion caused the caves to be exposed at the surface. Iron age settlers and the Romans mined the rich deposits of iron ore in the land, and after the Romans left nature began its work to reclaim the forest, creating and shaping a magical landscape where folklore, as well as trees, could grow.

The stunning Scowles. The word comes from the old English world Crowll, meaning hollow or cave.

A trip to Puzzlewood starts like any other visitor attraction, with admissions in a gift shop, a rather nice café and a range of fine-looking farm animals to observe and greet. There is also a small exhibition detailing the history of the Dean area, as well as describing the importance of the Scowles as a wildlife habitat, supporting a range of species from primitive plants and ferns, to bats and invertebrates. But then you leave the visitor centre behind for the short walk to the forest itself, and that’s when everything changes…

Marvan’s hut must be out there somewhere…

From the moment you enter the woodland the outside world falls away, and it’s impossible not to be moved by its sheer, staggering beauty. As you wander the labyrinth of twining paths, up steps and over bridges, there’s an energy of ancient magic and nature spirits that pervades the entire forest. We all felt it. You half expect to happen upon Marvan’s hut, or Merlin and Arthur out on some noble quest.

Eventually we came upon the exact location of a spine-tingling scene in one of our favourite episodes, The Eye of the Phoenix, in which Prince Arthur is on a quest to the realm of the Fisher King. He has to cross a bridge, but first he must obtain permission from it’s guardian, Grettir…

Grettir’s bridge is every bit as magical as it appears in the scene.

Shortly afterwards, we came upon another iconic location, a striking narrow gorge that was the setting of many an ambush and chase in the series…

And here it is in a brief clip from another episode of Merlin:

When we finally, and reluctantly, dragged ourselves from Puzzlewood it was, to be honest, a bit of a shock to emerge again into the real world. None of us had any idea of how long we’d spent roaming the paths in this idyllic forest, as we all felt that, somehow, we’d been out of time. It was as though we’d been wandering in the Otherworld, in the company of dryads and the fae, of Irish princes who have chosen a different path, of young warlocks and their royal masters, and of mystical guardians watching over their liminal bridges. But one thing we did know is how grateful we were to have found this captivating place, and that Puzzlewood has left its lasting, spellbinding mark on our hearts.

And let’s face it, these days we could all do with a little dose of magic…