Sherwood Forest

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Sherwood Forest--yes Robin Hood--is a 450 acre country park. It used to be bigger and a hunting ground for royalty. The Sheriff of Nottingham also hunted in the forest. There are actually many things to see and only a smidgen of the forest is devoted to Robin Hood. Of course that's where we started. The visitor center for the forest is in the middle of Robin Hood country. Most of what we know about Robin Hood is folklore/legend and the story changes in each time period. But we had fun walking around and learning more about him. We walked along a trail that leads to Major Oak. Apparently as the legend has it, this is the place where Robin Hood and Maid Marion pledged their undying love. How romantic! It's also supposedly the main hideout of Robin Hood and his crew. This sucker is HUGE!!! It's estimated at being 800 years old. The branches of the tree are now held up by steal rods so they don't come crashing down. The forest itself if full of birch and oak trees. There are some really big and old oaks but Major Oak is considered the oldest and definately the biggest. It is 30ft in diameter! The pictures just don't do it justice. Massive! Sorry the pictures aren't that exciting. But it's a forest so lots of trees to look at and photograph.

After visiting Robin Hood we headed over to Rufford Country Park. I wanted to see an old abbey there. Rufford Abbey, sorry, gotta bust out the brochure and read some facts. Rufford Abbey is now just remains, but it once was a Cistercian Monastery that later became a country house. It was founded in 1416 and later, in the 17th century, the Savile family took over the 18,700 acre estate. This family occupied the estate for the next 300 years. The estate closed in 1938. The park is woodlands, gardens, walking paths, a lake, and the remains of buildings. Very pretty. There were families everywhere having picnics, playing soccer (I mean football), and just walking around enjoying the sites.

We didn't go see anything else on this day. The rain settled in so we headed back to Scotter. Enjoy the photos!

~Stacey

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Photos

Robin Hood & Little John
statue capturing the fight on the bridge

Major Oak
See the rods holding up the branches?

My Robin Hood!
Testing out the long bow

Fire!
The arrow, if you can see it, hit the target but no bullseye

Remains of Rufford Abbey
This actually isn't even the whole building. When next to the building you can see a foundation line for more walls

Comments

[C3]

Big wood
That Major Oak is sporting some serious wood! So did Koi split his first arrow in the target with his second arrow? Did Friar Tuck show you where to find the best ale? Down with corrupt monarchs... long live Robin Hood!

[Marsha]

Big Ass Stump???
Stacey---I can tell you were raised by your dad!! We've loved the pictures and the commentary. Be sure to see EVERYTHING so we can all enjoy it from afar! Doug's here inbetween grad school and new job in Burbank, CA. Doug and Bill take off in the morning (Sunday) for CA, I'll join them on Saturday to ride home with Bill. Keep up the good travel log. Love Marsha