Located on the southern edge of the Forest of Dean with views of the River Severn, the Romano-British temple at Lydney was excavated by archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1928-9. The temple occupies part of an Iron Age fortified hill, nearby is another hill crowned by the broken walls of a medieval castle. The temple was occupied in the late Roman period, and is unusual in that it operated as a pagan site at a time when the official religion of Rome was Christianity. A recent reevaluation of the site suggests that it was a popular place for pilgrimage as early as the second century. The site for the temple may have been chosen as it offered a clear view of the Severn Bore. The mosaic floor of the temple included images of dolphins, fish, and sea monsters. It is possible that the temple is orientated towards the sunrise of the winter solstice. The temple was dedicated to the gods Nuada (Nodens), and Silvanus. Nodens was equivalent to the Welsh Nudd, and Lludd Llaw Eraint (Lludd of th

“Where do you get your ideas?" or “How do you find your inspiration?" These are two questions people often ask. My first thoughts would be “How do I begin to explain?" I expect every artist has their own views on these questions. Ideas and inspiration are a deeply personal matter, perhaps something of a puzzle to the artist themselves. Though many artists would agree that a full answer would be very complicated to explain to someone who is not an artist, and who has no experience of dealing with ideas. My own way of working with ideas is to treat them in an anthropomorphic way. I am happy to receive ideas and grateful for them when they arrive, but they can turn up at inconvenient times. Often they come when I have no immediate use for them. So, I like to acknowledge them by recording them in a notebook, to keep them safe for a future time when they can be put to good use. I have a fear that if I just ignore them, they may feel rejected, take offence, and stop coming. A visual artist m

Throughout the country there are several thousand known examples of the Green Man, with many more still to be discovered. The earliest of these date from the beginning of the Middle Ages. They were common throughout the Medieval period and in some ecclesiastical buildings - Canterbury Cathedral for example - they may be counted in the dozens. The popularity ofthe Green Man came to an abrupt end, in Britain at least, with the Reformation. The new simplified approach to Christianity brought about a backlash against the colourful and symbolic imagery of the Roman Church. Sculptures, paintings, windows, and decorations of all kinds, not only the Green Man, were destroyed, whitewashed over, or simply forgotten. In subsequent years, some rare examples continued to be produced for secular buildings such as the gates of Hampton Court Palace. A Green Man wall plaque, handmade in stoneware clay. With the Victorian Gothic Revival, the Green Man became popular once again. It was an accepted design

Mari Lwyd - the Grey Mare - is the central character of a midwinter festive tradition celebrated in South Wales, and elsewhere. Through the dark nights between Christmas and New Year, the Mari leads her unruly retinue from house to house, winning access by outsinging the inhabitants at each door, and, once inside, boisterous revelries ensue. There are many accounts of the Mari Lwyd tradition to be found in old newspapers. The interpretations of the custom found in them have just as many variations. From the Evening Express, 28th December 1894 “MARI LWYD." “Every native of Wales will have heard of “Mari Lwyd." The title is given to a horse's head decked with ribbons of all colours; eyes of glass, pricking ears, with a. sheet in the shape of a horse's body. Underneath that sheet is a youth, and he carries, bv means of two sticks fastened under the sheet to the lower jaw, lite head of the skeleton. By that contrivance the youth is able to open and shut the jaws of the skeleton's head, ric