October 2012, step back in time and join the outlaws for a day packed with family fun!
An exhilarating family event where you can
relive the life and times of Robin Hood at the ancestral home of his
arch enemy the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Every autumn, during the
October half term weekend, Nottingham Castle plays host to the two-day
Robin Hood Pageant. Re-creating an atmosphere of a time long past.
The
event features live jousting, a replica medieval village encampment, a
medieval ale house, craft stalls and activities, living history
demonstrations, falconry displays, musicians, entertainers and more.
Come and meet Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest in August 2012.
SHERWOOD FOREST AND ROBIN HOOD
Described by R. Murray Gilchrist 1911
To savour the full charm of Sherwood Forest one must stray from the
highroad, lose one's path, and wander in happy patience until a broad
avenue is reached, or above the treetops one sees the slender and
graceful spire of some stately church. The formal beauty of the
frequented ways--trimly kept and splendidly coloured--precludes all
illusion: only in the remote solitudes with their monstrous old trees is
it possible to evoke a mind picture of Robin Hood and his devoted
followers. And even in the most secluded places the imagined pageant of
these folk suggests the theatre. The loveliness seems unreal--a
background devised by some scene-painter of genius.
But Sherwood is always beautiful and always tranquil; to those who know
aught of wood magic it is as fair in cold midwinter as in autumn, when
the leaves are no longer green leaves, but a rich mosaic of russet and
orange and sullen red. My most wonderful memory is of a November day
when a fine snow was falling, and the leaves drifted downward in a
continuous murmuring veil. Then, no rabbits played upon the grassy
wayside or crossed the track, and the pheasants shivered in their hidden
shelters. In early springtime one best realizes the antiquity; the
first opening leaves call to mind pale lichen growing upon damp castle
walls: in summer the air is languorous, bringing a desire for rest and
contemplation. Storms are impious there: the ancient oaks and birches
and chestnuts must wail and protest, like dotards wakened from senility
to cruel hours of actual life.
Of the old forest naught remains in perfection save the southern parts
known as Birkland and Bilhagh, in the neighbourhood of Edwinstowe and
Ollerton. Near the former village may be seen the famous "Major Oak" and
"Robin Hood's Larder". The full glory departed several centuries ago;
Camden himself writes of "Sherewood, which some interpret as 'clear
Wood', others as 'famous Wood', formerly one close continu'd shade with
the boughs of trees so entangled in one another, that one could hardly
walk single in the paths," that "at present it is much thinner, and
feeds an infinite number of Deer and Stags".
One or two literary men of some distinction have rhapsodized over the
charms of Sherwood, notably William Howitt and Washington Irving. Lord
Byron, whose house of Newstead lies not far away, displayed but little
interest in the district. The only modern writer to whom the secret of
the real Sherwood has been fully divulged is Mr. James Prior, whose
books, inspired by the spirit of the woodlands, should delight all who
love fresh and wholesome pictures of unspoiled country life.
Sherwood, as everybody knows, was Robin Hood's kingdom. Learned men have
racked their brains concerning the great outlaw's existence. Joseph
Hunter, the historian of Hallamshire, published in 1852 an ingenious
tract concerning his period and his real character, which in short gives
plausible enough details of his adventures. There is a well known by his
name not far from Doncaster, another near Hathersage, in the Peak
Country; and more than one village prides itself upon the site of his
"Shooting Butts". A cave, by legend ascribed to him, may be found on an
"edge" overhanging the Derwent valley, whilst within an easy walk of
Haddon Hall one may see two rocks known as his "Stride".
