swamp such
ineffectual arrangements, and as a natural consequence Cinderford sank."

"Attempts still continued to be made from time to time in the locality,
but the want of success, and the loss of large capital, placed the whole
neighbourhood under a ban. It was during this interval that the name of
David Mushet appears in connexion with the Forest. He made his first
essay at White Cliff, near Coleford, in partnership with a Mr. Alford.
The result was the loss of the entire investment, and the dismantling of
the works, except the shell of the building, as a monument over the grave
of departed thousands. A large quantity of the castings were brought to
Cinderford in 1827, and were connected with the blast apparatus attached
to those works. The names of Birt and Teague now occasionally appeared,
combined with attempts to retrieve the character of the locality for iron
making; but all failed: and Mr. Mushet's famous declaration that physical
difficulties would for ever prevent its success, in connexion with such
repeated failures, seemed for several years to have sealed up the
prospects of the Forest; but at length a glimmer of light broke through
the darkness, and it was reserved for an individual of Forest birth to
prove that the greatest theorists may arrive at wrong practical
conclusions.

"Moses Teague was the day-star who ushered in a bright morning after a
dark and gloomy night. Great natural genius, combined with a rare
devotion to the interests of the Forest, led him to attempt a solution of
the difficulty. In this he so far succeeded at Dark Hill, in the cupola
formerly used by Mr. Mushet, that he formed a company, consisting of
Messrs. Whitehouse, James, and Montague, who took a lease of Park End
Furnace about the year 1825, erected a large water-wheel to blow the
furnace, and got to work in 1826. Having started this concern, Mr.
Teague, who from constitutional tendencies was always seeking something
new, and considered nothing done while aught remained to do, cast his eye
on Cinderford, which he thought presented the best prospects in the
locality; and after making arrangments with Messrs. Montague, Church, and
Fraser, those gentlemen with himself formed the first 'Cinderford Iron
Company,' the writer joining the undertaking when the foundations of the
buildings were being laid. The scheme comprehended two blast furnaces, a
powerful blast engine still at work, finery, forge, and rolling-mill,
designe