Nottingham

Today we visited the famous Sherwood Forest in the search of Robin Hood knowledge. Legendary home of Robin Hood and an awe inspiring nature reserve of ancient oak trees. Once part of a royal hunting forest, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve covers 450 acres and incorporates some truly ancient areas of native woodland where slender birch trees grow alongside more than one thousand veteran oaks, most of which are over 500 years old. The largest and most famous of these is the Major Oak - linked throughout the world to Sherwood’s legendary hero Robin Hood. 

Robin Hood & Little John

Starting on our Walk with Giants path.

The Welcome Oak stands proudly at the beginning of the walk of whom we ask permission to enter this ancient forest.

The Medussa Oak Tree

 

Here I was touched by the new beginnings of the fern starting to grow within the ancient  remains of a mighty oak.

Some little friends that greeted us on our walk.

An oak on the left and glorious silver birch trees on the right.

The Major Oak weighs an estimated 23 tonne the circumference of it's truck is 10trm and its branches spread to over 28 meters wide. This magnificent oak is over 1,000 years old.

These two oaks known as King John & The Sheriff of Nottingham.

Robin Hood Oak is the last of the ancient oaks we see as we leave our walk of the Sherwood Forest.

 We then drove to Nottingham (known as the City of Caves) where we discovered a hidden world beneath our feet underneath the streets of Nottingham. Original sandstone caves under the cobbles of some of Nottingham’s most famous streets and up through Drury Hill, which was the main street where the poorest residents of Nottingham once lived in Nottingham’s smelliest slum, Narrow Marsh.

Not only did the people of the time lives in these caves they also worked in the tannery shown here.

Our young welcome committee at the Gateway Motel in Nottingham.