After returning from London (and before Elaine and the kids encountered the Hissing Bulls of Laxton), we went to Sherwood Forest. Yeah, that Sherwood Forest.
We took a short drive up to Edwinstowe (the village where Robin Hood and Maid Marion were married). Beautiful countryside on the way up, weather was great. Grabbed a quick lunch at the Craft Centre, which was a really neat place with a coppersmith, glassblower, etc.
We walked past a small carnival along the treeline and into the woods proper. We did the "Major Oak" loop, which runs along a distressingly well cleared trail out to the Major Oak - purportedly the place where Robin and his Merry Men would meet. Today the oak still lives (it's about 800 years old) but needs a series of steel tube supports to keep its massive limbs from all snapping off. It came off as a bit sad, like Sly Stallone doing that last Rocky movie.
The forest itself is lovely. The undergrowth in some places is pretty clear, which made it a great place for the kids to romp around.
As pretty as Sherwood can be, the truth is there are probably a million forests in the US that are prettier or more impressive. Sherwood, however, had three really big things in it's favor:
1) Freaking Robin Hood
2) Several really, really old oak trees, just scattered about among the smaller oaks and birches like bullfrogs in the middle of a flock of sandpipers.
3) freaking Robin Hood
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