Walking in the Forest

Hello Lovelies, 

the mild weather we are enjoying here at the moment encouraged us to go on another family day trip on Saturday. 

This time we headed for Sherwood Forest.......

It's somewhere I have not been to since the boys were toddlers and Hubby hadn't visited since a school trip back in the 70's

We enjoyed the pleasant twenty minute walk along wide paths with lots of information boards.......

which leads you to the star  attraction..........The Major Oak

This huge tree is estimated  to be between 800 and 1000 years old !!  As you can see it's ancient  branches are supported by metal props to help it survive.

I was rather hoping it would have some Autumn colour in it's leaves, but it was lovely to see it still looking so healthy despite it's amazing age.......a living thing still thriving after all those years, WOW.

Other parts of the forest showed more signs of the season, with the ferns beginning to turn brown.......



And loads of Fungi everywhere. I was thrilled to see these quintessential toadstools......

The low afternoon sunshine illuminated these ferns beautifully..........

As well as the famous major oak there were many other aged oak trees, with gnarled bark and contorted branches.........

You could get much closer to these wonderful trees. I loved looking up at the canopy of leaves ......

My favourite tree is an Oak I regularly drive past. I enjoy seeing it changing throughout the seasons. It's certainly beautiful and  a reassuring constant in the landscape.

On the way back we stopped off at the visitor centre and were surprised to see a wedding party gathered for photographs under the tree on the left.....

The lady in the shop told us that this spot is now a popular civil wedding venue and it did add a rather lovely atmosphere.

Of course most people visit Sherwood Forest because of it's famous resident and the visitor centre had an interesting  free exhibition about the history of the area........

And a certain Robin Hood.........

It added extra interest for the boys who are not generally impressed with the idea of going for a walk these days.

The weekend often flies by,  suddenly it's Sunday evening and we realise that we never got out as a family to enjoy our time away from work and school, so it was lovely to spend a couple of hours enjoying each others company somewhere different. 

It may seem strange but I also loved the car journey, we choose the scenic route through pretty countryside and I felt happy when my  boys  often pointed out a view or a feature that they noticed as we traveled  along.
 I sat in the back, between eldest and youngest. Middle son , who doesn't travel so well, sat in the front.
 There were no gadgets to distract us, well only the car radio which we sang along to occasionally .
It was a simple pleasure that added so much to the day for me.

Jacquie x