 Robin fighting with Little John over a river. The park had to apologise for the lack of water in the river. "It has been a long dry summer."  Mile after mile of tree lined walk ways.  Fascinating sculptures from the dead trees. There are a lot of dead trees.  More carvings in dead trees  The Major Oak - the centre piece of Sherwood Forest walks. It was first in need of preserving work in 1901. Tourism goes back a long way again  More sculpting  Some dead trees need to sculpting to look spectacular | We met our cousin today. I had not seen her for 53 years and I recognised her instantly. We sat over coffee talking about our families over the years. You can't actually cover 50 years of history over a double espresso. So we talked about what we had done in the past 2 weeks and where to next. She suggested that Sherwood Forest was not too far away. Decision made and we were off - “riding through the glen.” (somebody may get it) Our final discussion was to pick between Richard Green and Errol Flynn. A tough call. Someone said what about Kevin Costner but that was shouted down right away. Later I checked to see just how many films have been made about Robin Hood. It is a lot! Sherwood car park is massive. Luckily for us it was almost deserted. I would hate to be wandering through the greenwood trees (ah de doo ah de doo da day - oops no that was the Gypsy Rover) with a full carpark. The car park is of course that scourge of touring the UK… the Pay and Display. Seems you have to pay someone whenever you stop your car. I worry they will wanna charge you to stop at a traffic light. But there was no charge to get into the forrest so I guess it covers the cost of the upkeep somewhat. There is a fully equipped visitors centre. That means coffee and cake and fridge magnets on sale. But we were off walking right away. The wonderful host at the door told us exactly which tracks to follow. Showed us them on the map. Off we went. We forgot the map. We forgot the directions. We ended up lost on the 4 mile track and not the 1 mile track. Siri tapped me on the wrist after 10 minutes to say, “you seem to be on an outdoor walk should I track that for you.” I knew it was only a 15 minute wander so I passed. Later, when we were lost in the home of Robin and his merry men, I knew I should have listened to Siri… she always knows what is best. Our walk through Sherwood took an extra hour but no complaints. It was a delightful wander on well made tracks through a wonderful forest. Richard Green as Robin Hood was one of those early B&W TV heroes leaving a lasting impression. It was a good idea to visit. Did you know? In 1953 the Indiana Text Book Commission tried to have Robin Hood removed from American school text books. Because he was a communist. So today was an easy walk through a historical forest. Boy, I wish I had invited Siri along though. Then I would be sure of exactly where we wandered. And I cant help wonder if the Pay and Display theme everywhere is an example of robber barons at work. Hmmm  How many dead trees can you photograph? I made a good effort.  This looked like the tree to pick, if you have to live in one of them. |
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