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Puzzlewood: The Mossy Forest Crossed By Artisanal Roman Pathways

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There is a forest in England whose vegetation is as rich as the densest jungles, it’s dreamy aesthetic combines wooden snakes and rustic paths built by the Romans.

In English history, the Puzzlewood Forest, within the Dean Forest, has remained immersed in legends describing abundant treasures hidden among its many caves. Here, there are ruins and remnants of the Roman occupation, such as stone pathways, built here in order to ease the extraction of iron from its numerous and enigmatic caves.

Puzzlewood is a peculiar place, a cold forest full of stone, moss and hundreds of trees whose thin branches invade its hillsides —as if these were snakes that envelop the place with their organic art. The place is mapped with stony pathways, which permeate the place with a folkloric and artisanal mysticism, as if this was a natural part of the environment.

In 1848 over three thousand roman iron coins were found here and since then, many legends of hidden treasures have emerged —this metal permeates the place’s atmosphere. We can also find bridges that remind us of the stories of classical literature, as well as structures made from willow sticks which are part of a contemporary art project, the Willow Bank, that remits to Celtic patterns.

The place can be explored in two and a half hours, but part of the magic of this forest is the contemplation of the vast amount of life that has gathered in its corners, with a touch of mystery and all the possibilities that radiate from the fog and moss. We could easily spend days on end here, discovering the micro-worlds that comprise this forest, immersed in a sensory adventure that borders on a hallucinating inspiration.

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