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The Forester

The Forester is a weekly tabloid newspaper sold in the Forest of Dean, more widely throughout western Gloucestershire and in parts of neighbouring Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, including the towns of Cinderford, Coleford, Lydney, Newent, Ross-on-Wye, Ledbury and Monmouth.

It was founded in 1874 as the Dean Forest Guardian and adopted its present name in 1991. However, it’s not the first newspaper called The Forester; a newspaper was founded under that name in the 1860s (The Forester‘s website says 1860; the British Library catalogue lists a creation date of 1869), but was later incorporated into the Gloucester Journal – which in turn has been absorbed into The Citizen.

The Dean Forest Guardian took on two other titles as sub-editions in 1929, the Dean Forest Mercury (founded in 1881 as the Dean Forest Mercury, West Gloucester Gazette; the name changed in 1940) and the Lydney Observer (founded in 1914). All three were merged when The Forester was launched in 1991.

For most of the last three decades it was published by Gloucestershire Media Ltd, part of what used to be the Daily Mail & General Trust‘s regional and local newspaper publishing division, Northcliffe Media. It was acquired by Sir Ray Tindle’s Tindle Newspapers group in 2010. The editorial offices are in Cinderford.

It comes out on Thursdays. An e-edition’s also available online by paid subscription.

  • Address:
  • The Forester
    43-47 High Street
    CINDERFORD
    GL14 2SL
  • Tel:
  • 01594 820600
  • Fax:
  • 01594 826213