Deep Filling Farm

01/08/2025

💧 St Anthony’s Well: Forest Waters with a Sacred Past 💧

Hidden in the quiet woods near Mitcheldean, St Anthony’s Well is one of the Forest of Dean’s oldest and most mysterious places. Tucked beneath the trees, its icy waters have drawn pilgrims, healers, and curious wanderers for centuries.

Monks from nearby Flaxley Abbey once visited it, but its story goes even further back—flint tools found nearby suggest this spring was sacred long before Christianity. Some say Iron Age tribes gathered here long before any church was built.

Stone steps still lead down into the spring’s 3-foot deep basin. In the 1800s, people would come here to be baptised or healed. The legend says if you dip in the freezing water nine times at sunrise in May, it cures skin diseases, leprosy, even bad eyes and aching joints.

Others believed you had to return twelve times—taking one more step into the water each visit.

🌿 But the well’s energy isn’t just Christian. In the 19th century, it was used by wise women and herbalists who held quiet pagan rituals and healing ceremonies deep in the woods. Some call it a pagan baptismal font—a meeting point between old gods and new faiths.

Even today, the place feels different. Still. Cold. Sacred. People still visit at dawn to dip cloths, leave offerings, or just sit and feel something ancient in the air.

If you go, don’t expect a tourist site—expect silence, birdsong, and cold, bone-deep water. And maybe, if you’re open to it, a sense of something watching from the trees.

29/07/2025

🐻 Who killed the bears? The Bears of Ruardean: A True Forest Tragedy 🐻

Deep in the Forest of Dean, the quiet village of Ruardean still carries the shadow of a legend that’s more fact than folklore—one soaked in outrage, rumour, and regret.

In 1889, four Frenchmen came through the area with a travelling act: two tame Russian bears. They passed through Cinderford, heading toward Ruardean. But somewhere along the way, a false rumour spread—that the bears had killed a child and mauled a woman.

The response was instant and violent. A mob of 200 locals descended on the showmen. The bears were attacked—one beaten to death, the other shot while trying to escape. The Frenchmen were also assaulted, left bloodied and terrified.

But here’s the twist: Ruardean villagers were the ones who stepped in to help. They hid the showmen, treated their injuries, and helped them survive the night.

Despite this, Ruardean took the blame. The taunt “Who killed the bears?” echoed for generations—an unfair insult pinned to the wrong place. In truth, most of the attackers came from elsewhere.

Thirteen men were eventually arrested. Some jailed. Fines were paid. But the damage was done—not just to the men and animals, but to the village’s name.

Over time, the tragedy turned into legend. It inspired plays, films, and Forest folklore. But it’s more than a quirky tale—it’s a story of mass hysteria, misplaced blame, and how one violent night can leave a lasting mark on a community.

Next time someone jokes, “Who killed the bears?”
Now you know. And you know it wasn’t Ruardean.

28/07/2025

🌳 Step Into the Woods—And Out of the Chaos 🌳

Ever notice how stress melts away the second you step under a green canopy?

No phone buzz. No deadlines. Just birdsong, the crunch of leaves, and a cool breeze whispering through the trees.

Woodland doesn’t just relax you—it resets you.
Your breath slows. Your mind clears. Time stops rushing. You remember how to just be.

It’s the perfect antidote to modern life—no Wi-Fi, no pressure, no noise. Just nature, doing what it’s always done: healing us.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, or just plain fed up…
Go where the signal fades, and the peace returns.

🌿 The forest doesn’t ask anything of you—except to show up and breathe.

Visit www.deepfillingfarm.co.uk and book your escape to nature 🍃

27/07/2025

🌿 Nest time you visit us, consider visiting the beautiful and mysterious I May Hill: Where the Trees Whisper and the Past Dances 🌿

Towering over the Gloucestershire border, May Hill is more than just a pretty place to watch the sunset. With its distinctive ring of pine trees and sweeping 360° views, it’s one of the Cotswolds’ most iconic and mysterious spots—steeped in history, myth, and yearly ritual.

It was once a beacon hill, lit to warn of invasion and to mark royal events. During World War I, it helped map Britain, acting as a triangulation point. Its silhouette has been a constant landmark for centuries—visible from miles around.

But it’s not just the history that pulls people up the hill. It’s something older. Something stranger.

In 1887, to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, locals planted a ring of 99 Corsican pines at the summit. Legend says they tried to make it 100—but every attempt to plant a 100th tree has failed. It either withered, toppled, or simply refused to grow. Some blame harsh winds or hungry rabbits. Others whisper of a curse—that May Hill rejects the 100th tree, and always will.

🌲 “No more than 99,” they say. “One more, and the hill takes it back.”

But once a year, the mood changes.

🕊️ Every May Day, locals rise before dawn and climb the hill—some in silence, others in song. Morris dancers stamp the earth awake, bells ringing in the new season. It’s a rite, a celebration, a defiant ritual that blends pagan past and modern tradition. As the sun rises over the Severn and mist curls through the trees, the hill comes alive with music, laughter, and something ancient moving just beneath the surface.

May Hill isn’t just climbed. It’s honoured.
It isn’t just a place. It’s a story still being told.

🌅 Just be careful if you ever think about planting that 100th tree…

24/07/2025

If there weren’t already 100 reasons to visit the beautiful Forest of Dean, now there are 101.
This is the perfect getaway whether you’re looking for a relaxing rural break, a walking holiday, forest bathing or adrenaline adventure.

It's one of the largest cave systems found in Britain in a decade - and it's in the Forest of Dean 😱
The network of passages stretches for 10km (6 miles) 🔦

The first part of the cave system was found in the 1990s ➡️ bbc.in/3IGg60O

22/07/2025

Ever wondered what our cider mill might’ve looked like back in the 1880s?
I asked AI to imagine it – and this is what it came up with. The fireplace definitely wouldn’t have been there, but it’s an atmospheric guess.

The story goes that there used to be a water wheel powering the cider press, though that was supposedly removed by a previous owner. Whether that’s true or not… who knows?

The image shows two men manually working a traditional press – no fancy tech, just sweat and apples. Makes you appreciate what went into every drop!

If you’re curious to try Knights Vintage Cider it’s now made by Aston Manor and sold in Tesco.

13/07/2025

Forests and woodland need bees not hornets 🐝 ❤️

05/07/2025

Cute new honey jar design ❤️🍯

29/06/2025

Another beautiful Sunday and another set of gorgeous guests leaving having had a wonderfully relaxing and luxurious weekend. Today we will be repairing a leak in the pond … it’s hard work but always a great pleasure to maintain our beautiful grounds

25/06/2025

It was meant to be scorching today, but down in this valley 🌲it’s still cool enough to do work in the garden on a day off my office job… so much to do and it’s always too late in the year due to everything feeling that now is the time. My day job really gets in the way of my passions at home. Today I am remapping the lawnmower ( a robo mower - mowbot) turned out to be an awesome investment, creating steps and finishing them off and channeling outflow from an ornamental pond full of tadpoles 🐸and dragonfly larvae 🐛. An aromatherapy massage 🌺 later to finish a perfect day (photo from the nearby beautiful Huntley hill woods) we are so lucky 🍀

16/06/2025

🌳 How did Deep Filling Farm get its name? 🌳

Hidden in a green ravine just outside Huntley, our home began life in the late 1700s as a simple woodman’s cottage. But the name “Deep Filling” comes from a dramatic 1800s moment: when engineers built a turnpike road across a deep ravine and dumped tons of earth to fill it in. Locals dubbed it “the Deep Filling”—a name that soon stuck to the hamlet and, eventually, our farm .

The “farm” bit? That comes from our cider days. In the late 19th century, a local chap named Albert Knight set up a cider mill here. Orchards, livestock, a working barn, and a cottage where families pressed apples and made a living—ours was a proper rural hub. By the 1920s, Huntley cider was bottled and enjoyed across Gloucestershire .

Though the orchards were lost in the reforestation push of the 1960s, and cider-making quietened, the name (and spirit) stayed. Fast-forward to today: the old cider mill has been lovingly restored into The Cider Press, our boutique holiday let—and the story comes full circle in 2024 .

So when you stay with us, you’re stepping into living history—sleeping in the same walls where cider once fermented. 🍎🏡

01/01/2025

As the birthplace of Knights Cider we made a video to share the story of Knights Ciders new parent company, Aston Manor and the Cider sabotage scandal. Enjoy!

This video tells the tale of Micheal Hancocks, formerly of Aston Manor Cider, plan to sabotage Bulmers Cider by introducing a yeast based contaminant. Aston ...