There are no wild bears roaming the Forest of Dean, but you would not know it from Morse Road in Drybrook. Frustrated by years of speeding traffic and three car crashes outside her home, local resident and traffic campaigner Penny Ballinger has put up homemade “Bear Crossing” signs in a bid to make drivers lift off the throttle. The tongue in cheek warnings, complete with silhouettes of lumbering bears, sit on a damp, downhill stretch that Ballinger says has become a magnet for near misses as well as collisions.
Her property and utilities have already taken the hit. Since 2021, vehicles have left the road three times along the 25 metre section outside her house, damaging her garden, smashing a telegraph pole and cutting her internet connection. The common thread, she argues, is speed and a natural spring that keeps the tarmac perpetually wet. Parents use the route on school runs, and Ballinger, who is disabled and relies on her car, says it is more by luck than design that nobody has been seriously hurt.
The signs nod to an 1889 local legend in which circus bears were killed after a rumour spread between nearby Cinderford and Ruardean, a story that still stirs feeling in the area. By invoking that folklore, Ballinger hopes to catch the eye and make drivers think, if only for a moment, about where they are and what they are doing. She would like to see the limit cut from 40mph to 30mph, backed up by better drainage and a re-profiled camber to deal properly with the spring water crossing the road.
Gloucestershire County Council says it has begun work, installing a roadside drain and planning further measures this financial year, but insists the road does not yet meet criteria for a speed limit reduction. Officials stress they are monitoring the situation and understand residents’ frustration.