Forest of Dean Railway on a contiguous line built by the GWR. Newnham was the main line junction station, although some branch trains ran through to Gloucester. As motor bus services became dominant, the passenger services became unprofitable and they were withdrawn in 1958. The network was closed completely in 1967 as mineral traffic ceased. The Forest of Dean Coalfield had long been a source of mineral working, for iron ore and coal. Free Miners had statutory rights in the Forest, which protected them from external competition. However this limited the extent to which large scale operations could be undertaken. A number of short
Beast of Dean Phantom cats were sighted in the Forest of Dean. The identity of these "Black Panthers" was thrown into further confusion in 2002 when a large Wild Boar with black fur was killed in a collision along the A40 near the town of Over. In the science-fiction television series "Primeval", the Beast of Dean turns out to be a gorgonopsid that arrived in the present day through a wormhole leading to the Permian period. Beast of Dean The Beast of Dean is an animal said to live, or to have once lived, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It was