Poets' Path
This circular walk follows the Poet's Path No 1 through the countryside to the east of Dymock in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire.
The literary walk visits several places associated with the Dymock Poets. The poets include Robert Frost, Lascelles Abercrombie, Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson and John Drinkwater, some of whom lived near the village in the period between 1911 and 1914.
To continue your walking in the area you could explore Dymock Woods or pick up the popular Daffodil Way.
Poets Path Ordnance Survey Map 
- view and print off detailed OS map
Poets Path Open Street Map 
- view and print off detailed map
Poets Path OS Map 
- Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking
Poets Path Open Street Map 
- Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking
Cycle Routes and Walking Routes Nearby
Photos
Clump of Corsican pine trees on May Hill – Robert Frost and Edward Thomas walked here, and Frost and his wife could see it from their cottage, "Little Iddens". It was here that Thomas began writing his poem "Words".
The summit of May Hill is 296 metres (971 feet) above sea level, and located there among the trees are several benches from which allow study in comfort of the views, which are extensive in all directions. They include views to the Welsh borders and the lower reaches of the River Severn. Each May Day, morris dancers dance in the new dawn on the top of May Hill, a ceremony believed to have been carried out for several centuries.
Abercrombie, Brooke, Drinkwater, and Gibson were poets who contributed to The Westminster Gazette and were considered Georgian poets. The 'Georgian' style, particularly its versification, fell out of favour in the 1920s and 1930s but was considered 'advanced' at the time and a precursor to 'modernism'. It used simple language and focused on ordinary events and people. Abercrombie died in 1938, while Gibson lived until 1962. Edward Marsh, the group's artistic and literary patron, edited the five volumes of Georgian Poetry published by Harold Monro.
Fields east of Dymock. Looking at St Mary's Church from the public footpath.
Drinkwater had close connections with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre at the Old Rep in Station Street, which opened in 1913. He was its first manager and wrote several plays for the company, mainly historical pieces and light comedies. Robert Frost, who became the most successful of the group, returned to America on 13 February 1915. During his career as a poet, he received four Pulitzer Prizes and was honoured twice by the Senate. During John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration, Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright," the first time a poet had been so honoured during an inauguration.
Public footpath along the Leadon valley
Lane at Velmill
Church House, Redmarley d'Abitot