Trustees

Geoff Phelps               Chair
Geoff has lived in Lydbrook for most of his life. He was born in the Dilke, raised on Hangerberry, went to Lydbrook school then Berry Hill Secondary, joined the Army at 16 and served for 5 years, before he eventually returned to Lydbrook via various forest villages. He works restoring steam engines and has done this for the last 30 years within the Forest of Dean. He is interested in Forest industrial History & railways.

Keith Newman              Treasurer
Keith has lived in Lydbrook for 25 years. He moved to the Forest of Dean 33 years ago. He worked as an engineer for a local firm for 20 years, but sadly has to drive a bit further afield nowadays. He appreciates the beauty of the forest, but also sees it as a real place where people live and work, rather than just visiting for a weekend or a holiday.  Recognising it needs communities, and that these don’t exist unless people get involved, he did become involved.  A practical person, he’s put his skills to good use in the Memorial Hall, which being nearly 100 years old always needs work doing. Finding the time to fit it all in is the hard part.

James Edward Matthews               Represents the Lydbrook Athletic Club.
James is ex Lydbrook, where he lived for 40 years.

Michael J. Charlton-Hubble           Represents the Parish Council.
Michael has been living in Lower Lybrook for 24 years after spending many years in Canada, including managing a Trading Post near the Artic Circle. Returning to the UK, he worked with lawyers on the Cromwell Street Murder case and then spent over 20 years as Superintendent Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages in Gloucester and the Forest of Dean. Since retiring, he conducts funerals, and is Secretary to a local Branch of the Foresters Friendly Society, organising socials, benefits, and Discretionary Grants to Members. 

He is involved in several Charities (raising over £150K so far). He is a Parish Councillor and Committee Member for the Tump, and Chair of the Gloucestershire Gay and Lesbian Community Group.

He has lived with his husband, Alan, for the past 21 years, enjoy their touring caravan, holidays, pet cat Billy and the garden. They both love living in Lower Lydbrook and the Forest.

Dr. Giles Horsfield               Represents the Lydbrook Players.
Giles has lived in Lydbrook since 2007 and represented Lydbrook Players on the Hall committee since August 2022. He loves living in this area, and really enjoys walking and running in the Forest and Wye Valley.  He has been in the Players for over 10 years and has been lucky enough to feature in some great productions. He has served on their committee for some years and is currently treasurer. His background is in biology, though he has worked in demography and social statistics for most of his career.

Judy Jackson                       Represents Lydbrook Baptist church.
Judy doesn’t live in Lydbrook but attends the church here and has been involved in developing the Sunday school room as a community space in Lower Lydbrook.

Stuart Allison                       Represents the Badminton Group
Stuart moved from East Yorkshire to Lydbrook in January 2015 with his wife, Valerie, so they could live, following retirement, in a place they chose to be rather than having to chase work all over the country. They walk most days in the forest.
They have a daughter, now married and living in Australia. Valerie plays lawn bowls in Coleford. Stuart writes fiction and some short nonfiction pieces for online platforms under the pen name of Stuart Aken, and posts a daily picture of the natural world, on FaceBook, to encourage love of the natural world.
He joined the committee at the AGM in June 2016 and has served a period in the Chair. He is also responsible for the website, trying to keep it up to date!

Susan G Vincent           Not a trustee at present but generously acting as our Booking Secretary.

If you’re interested in helping the community by making sure the Hall and the Recreation Ground are maintained and there for the benefit of all local people,  please come along to one of our Committee meetings.   They’re held in the Hall at 19:00 on the 1st Tuesday of each month.
The public are also welcome at these meetings.

If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening in the Hall and the Recreation Ground, please click on the contact page and enter your details on the short form. You’ll get an email every time the site is updated on the Blog page.  You can also follow us on Facebook  “Lydbrook Hall”