Best way to delete these pages?

[lee_sufc]

I previously used a phpbb forum on my site and I am now running into numerous problems with links etc on it. I am now thinking, the easiest thing I can do is just delete it altogether.

Content-wise, the forum isn't much use on my site, however, there would be around 50 pages that need deleting.

My question is: how should I go about deleting these pages and how can I redirect them to a newer page?

Also, is deleting around 50 pages going to do much to my site in terms of SERPS due to the reduction in internal links?

[tedster]

If you just take those pages off the server and remove any links that point to them, that is all it takes. If your want to speed up the process, put them in a Disallow rule in your robots.txt and use the URL Removal Request in Webmaster Tools.

If some of those urls are important because of backlinks or search traffic, then 301 redirect them to a page with similar information. Otherwise, I'd say just make them 404.

[lee_sufc]

Tedster, as usual - excellent advice, thanks!

One quick question - will redirecting all 50 pages affect my Google rankings much as a result of the reduction in internal links?