Chepstow Walkers are Welcome

Interesting read

Members' September newsletter out now.

https://mailchi.mp/walkersarewelcome/members-newsletter-september-2026

Great photo!

Bells Grammar School, Coleford – 1960

A fascinating aerial photograph of the site we now know as Bells Hotel & Country Club, taken when it was still Bell’s Grammar School.

Look closely and you may recognise the clubhouse on the left, which remains here today. On the far right, a small part of the long classroom building also survives as part of the present-day hotel. The rest of the site looks remarkably different, with classrooms, gardens, playing fields and tennis courts where generations of local children once spent their school days.

The story of Bell’s Grammar School can actually be traced back more than 500 years. Its earliest roots lie in nearby Newland, where Joan Greyndour founded a chantry and grammar school in 1445–46 in memory of her husband, Robert Greyndour. This made it one of the earlier grammar-school foundations in England. The original school came to an end following the dissolution of the chantries in the 16th century, but education in Newland was later revived with money left by Edward Bell, a native of the parish whose name the school would carry for centuries.

A purpose-built schoolhouse was erected in Newland around 1638. That building still stands today and is Grade II listed; Edward Bell’s coat of arms, a Latin inscription and the date 1638 can still be seen on it.

In 1876, Bell’s Grammar School moved from Newland to a new building at Lord’s Hill in Coleford—the site shown in this photograph and now occupied by Bells Hotel & Country Club. The school grew and developed here over the following decades, with additional classrooms and facilities added as pupil numbers increased.

Among its former pupils were several notable Foresters. Dennis Potter, born at Berry Hill and later celebrated as one of Britain’s most influential television dramatists, attended Bell’s after passing his eleven-plus. Edna Healey, the respected author, broadcaster and biographer, became the first pupil from the school to win a place at Oxford University, arriving at St Hugh’s College in 1936. Another former pupil was Dr Cyril Hart OBE, the renowned local historian, forestry expert and Verderer of the Forest of Dean.

The school also carried the memory of ten former pupils who lost their lives during the Second World War. Their memorial plaque is now preserved at All Saints’ Church in Newland, linking the later Coleford school with its much older beginnings in the village.

Bell’s Grammar School remained at Lord’s Hill until 1968, when it joined with East Dean Grammar School in Cinderford to form the new Royal Forest of Dean Grammar School at Five Acres.

That was not quite the end of this site’s story. In the early 1970s, the former school was converted into a country club, and in 1973 the neighbouring farmland at Edenwall was laid out as a golf course. Over time, the site developed into the hotel and country club we know today.

More than six decades after this photograph was taken, parts of the old school are still standing and still being used—just for rather different reasons! Thousands of pupils once walked these corridors and played on these grounds, and we would love to hear from anyone who attended Bell’s Grammar School or remembers the site as it appeared here.

Please share your memories, names, stories and photographs with us in the comments. We would love to learn more about the people who made this place such an important part of Forest history. ❤️

2 Members of Chepstow Walkers are Welcome Pathcare out today in St Arvans. The photos speak for themselves! a fabulous job clearing all the vegetation, making the path very accessible. It’s amazing in the drought, stinging nettles and brambles thrive which is great as they’re a valuable food source but not nice when you have to fight your way through them on a right of way.
Chepstow Community Page
Chepstow Town CouncilVisit Monmouthshire
MonLife Countryside

Another cracking walk today around the landscape surrounding Llandenny. 6 miles in rolling countryside. The diversity of landscape in Monmouthshire is amazing! Didn’t see a soul except for a couple of locals who said they hadn’t seen anyone climb that particular stile for 20 plus years! It was fantastic and we wish everybody could see what we see. A few tweaks by MonLife Countryside and it will be perfect. Such a shame the pub in Llandenny has shut. This walk will be featured in our monthly walks programme November 20th, but first we have other walks and the Autumn Walking Festival 23rd-25th October to look forward to!
Visit Monmouthshire
Group Walking In Wales
EventsnWales - Promoting Events in Wales

It’s a beautiful day for a walk so we decided to check out a new route for the Chepstow Walkers are Welcome Health Group. We like to explore new places on both sides of the border so a short drive over the Severn Bridge, brought us to Littleton on Severn. A lovely 2.6 mile level stroll across fields with gates and a stretch along the river Severn bank and into the very attractive village itself, passing a very nice old pub, The White Hart. Great day for cloud spotting. We’re looking forward to sharing it with the group. Join us every Monday (except bank holidays) 10 am at the rear of Chepstow Leisure Centre car park where we car share to the start.
Thornbury Wayfinders
Chepstow Community Page
Visit Monmouthshire
Gloucestershire Walks