My Walking Journeys

Tag: sherwood forest

Beautiful Winter Walks: Nottinghamshire’s Hidden Gems

Feb 6th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today myself and Mick enjoyed a 12.7 mile circular walk in Nottinghamshire, close to Blidworth. Driving to pick up Mick in the dark, there was dense freezing fog (not forecast!) so I was wondering whether the forecast sunny day would actually materialise?

Our route

We parked in Thieves Wood car park – a large free car park on the edge of Thieves Wood. The sun had cleared away any lingering fog and it was a cold, blue sky morning. Everywhere looked white with the frost.

We headed towards the grounds of Newstead Abbey, once home to Lord Byron.

We followed a path that took us past the Abbey but we did not get a great view. The Abbey was originally an Augustinian priory which passed to the Byron family following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. I made a mental note that this would be a good place to visit.

Newstead Abbey

The leaf strewn footpaths were good at this point with no dreaded mud. The walk would take us through woods and across undulating, open fields. It was great to have the sun on our faces, it really makes a difference.

The walk followed the Robin Hood Way for a good portion of the route, so we followed the signs.

Close to Papplewick we stopped at a handy bench for a break. I had my usual scotch egg and a coffee. Refreshed, we set off again following the ups and downs across the fields and meadows towards the outskirts of Blidworth.

Blidworth came and went as we headed to Harlow Wood and Fountain Dale. Legend has it that Fountain Dale was the home of Friar Tuck and that it was here that he had his first encounter with Robin Hood. The pair ended up fighting as a result of Robins insistence that the Friar should carry him across the stream.

Rainsworth water runs through Fountain Dale, we took a look. The water was almost stationary but we spotted a couple of Anglers enjoying the fishing.

Rainsworth water

A nice walk through Harlow wood was followed by a walk through Thieves Wood and back to the car park.

Thieves Wood

We had both enjoyed the walk and we debated our next walk whilst driving back.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
Autumn Adventures: Walking Through Sherwood Forest’s Colourful Trails

Oct 22nd, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my Blog 😊.

This morning myself and Mick enjoyed a 9-mile walk autumnal walk in Sherwood Forest . The highlight of the walk was visiting the Major Oak, reputed to be 800-1100 years old!

Arriving in Edwinstowe we parked in the RSPB car park. We were in Robin Hood country.

It was quite cloudy and a chilly wind was blowing – not what we were expecting. Our day began by walking through the village where we saw a nice sculpture of Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

We picked up a track that took us beside the river Maun. The path was slightly muddy but could have been worse. The sun was starting to put in a welcome appearance.

The river Maun

Shortly, we found the path to take us into the forest, passing a nice building.

The trees in the forest were full of Autumnal colours and sweet chestnuts were covering the floor. I’d never seen so many! Mick picked some up to feed the squirrels at home. We saw signs to say that part of the forest is a Naturist area – needless to say, this resulted in a bit of banter.

There were many paths in the forest and we took the wrong path a couple of times but soon got back on track. Roughly half way through the walk we stopped for a cuppa. We joked about keeping an eye out for Robin Hood.

We pressed on, starting to meet a few people now. It had been very quiet – we didn’t hear any birds singing. We met a couple who couldn’t remember where they had parked their car – in a lay-by somewhere apparently. They are probably still wandering around now!

Mick pressing on through the forest

We started to see signs directing people to the major oak and we arrived in an area where there were people milling around. It must be close. Then, I turned around and there it was!

The Major Oak

Mick was delighted to have seen the tree – ‘that’s one off the bucket list’ he said. Its incredible to think the tree is so old and is still alive today. Amazing!

Leaving the Major Oak we continued to follow the woodland trail that was carpeted in leaves. It brought us back to the car park.

It was a good walk and made a pleasant change from bog-trotting across fields.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️