That’s right, Robin Hood. We took a side trip home via Sherwood Forest today. We were up in Walsall for a mates wedding. Our first English/Welsh wedding. Well actually it was the evening reception after the actual ceremony and speeches. To us kiwis (or maybe it is just me) it is a strange concept going to the reception and not the ceremony. We would normally invite all and sundry to watch the ceremony and then just close family and friends to the reception. Still haven’t figured out the traditions and quirks of this country but it was a good night and really lovely to see P & H looking fabulously happy.
The next day we were planning to head to the Snow Centre for a ski in Tamworth. However when we got there we were rather surprised at the large numbers of birthday parties and kids. No way were we going on the slopes with them! So, we decided to take a trip to Nottingham and of course Sherwood Forest.
Nottingham as it turned out was a rather large city with a very nice river running through it. The traffic on the other hand was a huge wind up so we got out of there pretty quick. Quite a number of Art Deco buildings mixed in with everything else you can think of!
By chance Sherwood Forest had a re-enactment weekend on so this was a really exciting bonus for us. The forest is incredible with really easy walkways. The forest has many amazing twisted and gnarled Oak trees. These trees are classed as ancients. We are talking 700 years old. They look amazing and this is by far and away the most interesting forest I have visited to date in the UK. I think it was most likely due to the Oaks which just look so majestic. I was quite taken by them. Forests in the UK are definitely not like NZ. They are not as dense and as lush as what we are used to yet Sherwood was closer to a forest than anything else we have seen to date.
The re-enactments were really interesting to watch if not a bit scary. Lets just put it this way…always treat a gun as if it is loaded. Don’t EVER point the business end at me even if you are sure it isn’t loaded. I sure as heck didn’t want to find out the messy way if it was!
Other than that it was an incredibly interesting day passing by the time periods marked by the costumes and village scenes set up. From the Saxons and Normans, to the Victorians, WWI, WWII and even into the 80’s it was amazing to see the progression of weaponry and clothing across these periods. No surprise visits by Robin Hood or his merry men though. What a shame. We did see the ancient Major Oak though that legend says was where he used to meet his men before they went on their raids. You can see the Major Oak behind the musketeer in one of the following photos.
