We didn't fly until 7:30 tonight, so we had a whole day to kill. When watching Robin Hood, I looked to see how far Nottingham is from Harrogate. Only a couple of hours, quite feasible for a day trip. Nottingham is south of Yorkshire, and the south has been drier than the north, so it turned out to be a good plan. Nothing flooded down there, I don't think.
Anyway, we got up, had breakfast, loaded the car, and were off.
Nottingham has an airport.
Our first stop was Sherwood Forest. In Nottingham, we wanted to see the Brewhouse Yard Museum (a life in Nottingham museum) and maybe the castle if we had time. Those didn't open until 11, and we had to leave at 3 to get to the airport in time, so we needed to do Sherwood Forest first. I didn't think there was much to see there, but thought it would still be fun.
We found it no problem. Well, it turns out that this is a special Sherwood Forest Through Time weekend, so there was lots of stuff. First, it was the gift shop, so we could buy Robin Hood hats. Then, we went to the Visitor's Center and looked through the displays they had.
Then, it was into the forest. There are a few trails in the forest, but the one we wanted was the one to the Major Oak. The Major Oak was Robin Hood's hideout. This is also the trail that the forest through time displays were set up on. Awesome! They had bunches of reenactment groups from different time periods. There were Vikings
Normans
Crusaders
Bored Kids
Dogs of War
Ferrets of Peace
There were many reenactors strolling along, and this was my favorite, WWII meets Crusaders.
At the Major Oak, they gave demonstrations of different kinds of weapons.
There was quite a large sword "battle," where there could only be one winner.
At the end of it, the kids went in and brought down the winner, as revenge for him killing their comrade.
At one of the medieval booths, I bought some lace bobbins and a bone crochet hook. I like them.
The Guardian of the Forest
I like this kid
This guy is a Gentleman Piper
Stand and Deliver!
Then, we came into the World Wars.
Interestingly, there were a few modern reenactment groups. I never would have expected 1978-1989 to be a popular time period to reenact. I'm guessing maybe they are vets from those years.
We then needed to stop by the sign on the way out to take pictures with our totally rad hats.
And see some mushrooms
On the way to Nottingham, we drove through Edwinstowe, which is the village just outside Sherwood Forest. This is where Robin Hood and Maid Marian got married in the stories.
St Mary's (the church where they got married)
It is actually much larger than it looks in this picture, but I didn't want it to be big, so I made it look smaller.
Dragon's Teeth is so much cooler than severe tire damage.
Then, it was off to Nottingham. It's further away from the forest than I would have thought. I always thought of them being right together, since they are so closely associated in the Robin Hood stories. But, it was a good 45 minute drive.
By the time we got there, we didn't have a whole lot of time left. We parked and took some pictures near the castle
This is the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn, the oldest inn in England. It is said that Crusaders stopped here on their way out.
Nottingham Castle is built on a large, rocky area. The people of Nottingham carved caves out of the rocks to use for shelter, storage, brewing, and many, many other things over the years.
The Brewhouse Yard Museum is also known as the Museum of Nottingham Life. I love these kinds of museums. They had 4 townhouses set up as pieces of life from different times in Nottingham's history.
An old beer bottle capper back in the caves
During WWII bomb scares, people sheltered back in the caves behind the houses. The caves were dug out directly behind the houses, so they could just go out a back door.
Some WWII card games
A WWII baby gas suit (since they can't wear gas masks)
A home baptismal font, for people who were too sick to get to the church
Old breast pumps. I had no idea they had been around for so long. This was in a display that looked like a turn of the century general store. (I looked it up, and the first patent for a breast pump in the US was in 1854. Not sure about England)
We didn't have time for the castle, but it was perfect timing to get to the airport. We got there and got checked in, and had some time for linner. I had a sandwich.
The flight back was uneventful, and we made it home no problems. :)
Emma says - I really liked all of the reenactor things and the museum, because they were very interactive. I also got to pet ferrets, which is always the sign of a good day.
Anyway, we got up, had breakfast, loaded the car, and were off.
Nottingham has an airport.
Our first stop was Sherwood Forest. In Nottingham, we wanted to see the Brewhouse Yard Museum (a life in Nottingham museum) and maybe the castle if we had time. Those didn't open until 11, and we had to leave at 3 to get to the airport in time, so we needed to do Sherwood Forest first. I didn't think there was much to see there, but thought it would still be fun.
We found it no problem. Well, it turns out that this is a special Sherwood Forest Through Time weekend, so there was lots of stuff. First, it was the gift shop, so we could buy Robin Hood hats. Then, we went to the Visitor's Center and looked through the displays they had.
Then, it was into the forest. There are a few trails in the forest, but the one we wanted was the one to the Major Oak. The Major Oak was Robin Hood's hideout. This is also the trail that the forest through time displays were set up on. Awesome! They had bunches of reenactment groups from different time periods. There were Vikings
Normans
Bored Kids
Dogs of War
Ferrets of Peace
There were many reenactors strolling along, and this was my favorite, WWII meets Crusaders.
At the end of it, the kids went in and brought down the winner, as revenge for him killing their comrade.
At one of the medieval booths, I bought some lace bobbins and a bone crochet hook. I like them.
The Guardian of the Forest
I like this kid
This guy is a Gentleman Piper
And see some mushrooms
On the way to Nottingham, we drove through Edwinstowe, which is the village just outside Sherwood Forest. This is where Robin Hood and Maid Marian got married in the stories.
St Mary's (the church where they got married)
It is actually much larger than it looks in this picture, but I didn't want it to be big, so I made it look smaller.
Dragon's Teeth is so much cooler than severe tire damage.
By the time we got there, we didn't have a whole lot of time left. We parked and took some pictures near the castle
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| It's for sale! |
Nottingham Castle is built on a large, rocky area. The people of Nottingham carved caves out of the rocks to use for shelter, storage, brewing, and many, many other things over the years.
The Brewhouse Yard Museum is also known as the Museum of Nottingham Life. I love these kinds of museums. They had 4 townhouses set up as pieces of life from different times in Nottingham's history.
An old beer bottle capper back in the caves
During WWII bomb scares, people sheltered back in the caves behind the houses. The caves were dug out directly behind the houses, so they could just go out a back door.
Some WWII card games
A home baptismal font, for people who were too sick to get to the church
Old breast pumps. I had no idea they had been around for so long. This was in a display that looked like a turn of the century general store. (I looked it up, and the first patent for a breast pump in the US was in 1854. Not sure about England)
We didn't have time for the castle, but it was perfect timing to get to the airport. We got there and got checked in, and had some time for linner. I had a sandwich.
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| Free-range mayo? |
The flight back was uneventful, and we made it home no problems. :)
Emma says - I really liked all of the reenactor things and the museum, because they were very interactive. I also got to pet ferrets, which is always the sign of a good day.
Love the bone crochet hook, the statue with the interesting-looking family sitting at the base, and the cool hippie sign. The baby gas suit was creepy.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have time to wait for the statue to be empty, so I just pretended I knew those guys. :)
ReplyDelete