The Harry Potter series has been a phenomenal success. It's possible the basis of the boy hero was influenced by the mighty Forest of Dean. Here's why:
1. Harry Potter author JK Rowling moved to Tutshill near Chepstow, at the age of nine, and her family still live there. And it's right on the edge of the Forest.
2. She had her secondary education at Wyedean School and College in Sedbury, on the eastern side of the Wye Valley. It's still there and should they make as much out of the association as possible. It's magic.
3. The famous Symonds Yat Viewpoint featured in Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part 1. It looked pretty spectacular. Clearly one place a young JK Rowling went to and never forgot.
4. OK, not quite Forest of Dean, but worth a mention nonetheless. At Pinewood Studios, a Stage was used to recreate the Forest of Dean and the Frozen Lake.
5. JK Rowling named a quidditch team – The Tutshill Tornadoes – after Tutshill. See, she's got a long memory that woman.
6. In Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, the forest pool Harry dives into to retrieve Gryffindor's sword is in the Forest of Dean.
Forest of Dean news
7. Ah. In the Death Hallows, Hermione Granger recalls spending childhood holidays in the Forest of Dean." I came here once with Mum and Dad. That was years ago. It's just how I remember it. The trees, the river, everything. Like nothing's changed." I think we could swap 'Hermione' for JK there, don't you.
