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CinderHill Stud is based in the small village of Ruardean, which , is located in the Royal Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Nestling in the area between two rivers, the River Severn & the River Wye, Ruardean is right in the corner of Gloucestershire where it meets with the neighbouring counties of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire.
We are indeed fortunate to live in such a beautiful location as you can see from some of the local views in the photographs below.
Ruardean is also famous as the home of the Horlick family and the milky drink bearing the family name, Horlicks, was developed in the village. Horlick House, the family home is in fact not more than 200m from CinderHill Stud.
If you should ever visit the village of Ruardean the last thing that you should ask is "Who killed the Bears" It's a subject that the villagers are still touchy about even though it relates to an incident which happened on April 26th 1889.
On the above date four Frenchmen who had been exhibiting two Russian bears in the nearby town of Cinderford, left Cinderford via the Lower High Street at around three o'clock in the afternoon to make their way via Nailbridge to the village of Ruardean. The men and the muzzled bears were followed out of Cinderford by many small children and young men. By the time that they reached Nailbridge, 1 mile from the town a rumour had begun to circulate that the bears had severely mauled a young woman and killed a child in Cinderford. By the time that the angry mob which had formed caught up with the Frenchmen and the Bears at around 6 o'clock it had grown to around 200 strong. In the affray two of the Frenchmen were severely injured and one of the bears killed. The residents from Ruardean tried to calm the situation and reason with the angry mob. Two of the Frenchmen escaped in the direction of Ruardean and were taken in and sheltered by the locals, until they were handed over to the local Police at Drybrook. As the incident took place nearer to Ruardean than to Cinderford it was wrongly assumed that the angry mob were from Ruardean and the villagers were blamed for the incident. Eventually the truth of the matter came out, 15 Arrests were made and the accused were brought before Littledean Police Court on May 3rd 1899.
Even though it was proved to be Cinderford men involved in the assault it is still a sore point with the villagers from Ruardean.
So if you do go into the Malt Shovel the local hostelry in Ruardean,
Best not to mention the Bears !!!!!!!!
The MALT SHOVEL was originally built in the 12th century and incorporated it's own hop barn and brewery.
Now, The Malt Shovel provides accomodation and fine food for locals and visitors to the village alike. Character decor includes huge mahogany doors to the dining room and windows taken from No 10 Downing Street.
