22 November 2014

Major Oak in the Sherwood Forest

Major Oak

Did you know that there is a list of Great British Trees in the UK? Neither did I until very recently but apparently 50 major trees were designated as such in honour of the Queen's Golden Jubilee.  Yes, I am such a geek that I want to visit all of them now!

We visited Major Oak in Sherwood Forest Country Park, Nottinghamshire last month as the start of this tree visit quest. The age is estimated to be between 800-1000 years old and the tree now has to be supported with scaffolding and is fenced off to keep people from causing any further damage. To be fair the fencing isn't terribly obtrusive and certainly wouldn't keep anyone away but most visitors tend to be on the respectful side.

One thing we didn't expect on the trail to get to the tree was a statue of Robin Hood that looks uncannily similar to Robin Williams! Kind of a sad moment but puzzling as to why the sculptor based it on the actor to begin with (or was it even intentional?).

See the resemblance? 

Even if you aren't into old trees the area is well worth a visit, we didn't stray from the main path but there looked to be several interesting smaller ones that I would love to go back and explore, preferably while running.  Now which tree should we plan a road trip to visit next? 

*Update since writing this I've learned that Major Oak was voted England's Tree of the Year, cool, eh? 


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