EDWINSTOWE – SHERWOOD FORREST, ROBIN HOOD COUNTRY!

When I was planning this trip I did say (tongue-in-cheek) to MH who has had an interest in the Robin Hood legend since childhood “I suppose you would like to go to Sherwood Forrest”? His reply was “Is there any forest left”? After doing some research we did discover that yes, there is some forest left including a very ancient oak tree called “The Major Oak”.

So we did decide to go to Sherwood Forest. The small village at the edge of the forest is called Edwinstowe. The Nottinghamshire Council now has a National Nature Reserve & Visitor Centre at Sherwood Forest. The forest is famous as the legendary home of Robin Hood. Apparently there is some truth in the legend, but it is not clear exactly who Robin Hood was. Local folk lore tells of the Merry Men who used the hollow trunk of the Major Oak to hide from the Sherriff of Nottingham. The Major Oak is one many landmarks in the forest. It is estimated that the Major Oak is 1150 years old. The Major Oak is huge, it is now fenced off and there is some scaffolding holding up the heavy tree boughs. It is estimated that tree weighs about 28 tons. The forest while not as large as it used to be has been of scientific interest since the 1950’s. The oaks within the forest are some of the oldest trees in Europe and 900 of them are over 500 year old.

The "Major Oak' in Sherwood Forest.

 

The local church at Edwinstowe, St Mary’s has a sign saying “This is the church where legend has it Robin Hood and Maid Marion were married”. The original church on the site was built in 633AD and the present church was built in 1175AD.

 

The sign at St Mary's Church in Edwinstowe.

St Mary's Church, Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire UK

 

The other significant site we visited was the National Trust property “Clumber Park”. Clumber Park was the historic home to the many Dukes of Newcastle. However in 1938 the huge mansion was demolished. These days there are still some historic buildings there including the Chapel and the walled garden. The walled garden has a huge 400 foot long glasshouse, the longest in England. Today they grow various vegetables and grape vines in the glasshouse. Outdoors they still grow many varieties of vegetables and fruit trees and there are several old espaliered apple trees. Over 60 varieties of apples are still grown there. The flower garden was beautiful with many different coloured dahlias, fuchsias, roses and many other late summer and autumn flowers in bloom. In the days when the Dukes of Newcastle lived on the estate the walled garden provide food for the whole estate, plus flowers for the house.

 

The huge glasshouse in the walled garden at Clumber Park.



A very gentlemanly cricketing "scarecrow" in the walled garden at Clumber Park

 

There is an excellent Discovery Centre there, so both adults and children can learn about the wildlife that is found on the estate. We enjoyed walking around the estate and along the huge lake where there was a large flock of Canadian Geese as well as many other varieties of ducks and water birds. We even saw families of squirrels hunting for food. The National Trust does an excellent job managing this estate as it is huge. They do have several shops and cafes there and you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown there. When I came to UK last year I discovered having a National Trust membership was really worthwhile as they have many properties all over the UK we can visit free of charge.

The lake that was in front of the original Duke of Newcastle's home. It is a 4 mile walk around the lake!

We saw several families of squirrels looking for food.

One of the many walking paths at Clumber Park.

It is now time to say goodbye to Robin Hood country and move southwards to Norfolk.