Forest of Dean Central Railway decided that the sections from the South Wales Railway to New Fancy Colliery, and from Moseley Green to Foxes Bridge with the branch at Brimspill, should be built in two successive years. Plans were already being made for extending the line, and on 29 November 1856 an application was published for the "Forest of Dean Central, Lydbrook & Hereford, Ross & Gloucester Junction Railway". This would extend the Forest of Dean Central Railway to the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway line near Mitcheldean Road station, with a later extension to Ledbury. This was presented to Parliament in the 1857 session,
Forest of Dean Newnham on Severn and port at Lydney. The "Dean Road", still visible at Soudley, is believed to be a mediaeval rebuilding of the Roman road, and would have been an important route to transport iron ore and finished metal products. During Roman times there were Roman villas at Blakeney, Woolaston and elsewhere, and towards the end of the Roman period, around 370, a major Roman temple complex dedicated to the god Nodens was completed at Lydney. The central parts of the woodlands in the forest are believed to have been protected for hunting since Roman times. The area's history is