24 July 2016 - Littleover Farm, Sutton Bonington, near Loughborough

With the days on the calendar clicking over all too quickly, we could not sit around waiting to watch the procession of the Tour into Paris. We headed north to Sherwood Forest, up on the M1 , then eastward across the countryside skirting Mansfield , a market town, once the “dormitory” for the surrounding mining pits and a centre of light manufacturing. The town was home to the centre oak of the Sherwood Forest until the 1940s when it had to be felled, although now that the forest has diminished and retreated to the north east of the town, this would no longer be true even if it was still strong and healthy. Oak trees are famed for their longevity; reputedly growing for three hundred years, standing for a further three hundred and then taking a further three hundred to decay after death.

We found our way to the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve and Visitor Centre, paid the charming gate keeper the requested £3, then setting off for a couple of hours walk after picking up a site map. 

The Major Oak

The Forest is famous as the legendary home of Robin Hood, but as I explained when recounting our visit to the city of Nottingham, his existence is questionable. Here, as in the city, this does not deter the commercial appeal of the stories and all the paraphernalia that “supports” this. The “Major Oak”, a draw card for the tourist trade since Victorian times, and to those who appreciate nature more generally, is one of the largest and oldest remaining oak trees in England, and part of the legend. This particular tree, weighing an estimated twenty three tons, with a girth of 10 metres has grown here for over 1,150 years. Its massive canopy has a spread of 28 metres and is supported by a number of structures, increasing as the tree ages and bends under its own weight. With such artificial aids, there will come a time when there is more superstructure than tree.

In medieval times, Sherwood covered 100,000 acres, almost one fifth of the county, and was a royal hunting forest, its valuable game, timber, cattle and land protected by strict forest laws. It was, no doubt, the suppression of the common folk by those laws that created the folklore and stories of Robin Hood. 

Since the 1950s, the forest has been a Site of Scientific Interest, and was made a National Nature Reserve in 2002, because oak and birch woodland, and heathland, as ancient and undisturbed as this, is incredibly rare. The trees within the forest are some of the oldest oaks within Europe; around 900 of them are over five centuries old. This has given rise to a rich and complex ecosystem, so now Sherwood is a green haven for an amazing wide range of fauna, flora and wildlife, including 1,500 species of beetle and 200 different types of spiders.

We spent a couple of hours walking about the forest, firstly with the hundreds of others making their pilgrimage to the Major Oak, then heading off on a less popular trail of three and a half miles, plus the extra walked when we took a wrong turn. We sat in the middle of the forest soon after midday and ate our lunch, just as the legendary Robin Hood no doubt did all those years ago, watching baby squirrels scamper up the trunks of trees and leap across from branch to branch, robins flit about, butterflies alight on this plant and then another. We noted that the blackberries were still not ready for eating, that the nettles always added to the lushness of the vegetation if not the appeal. However we were not impressed with the number of dogs off leash that came by with their owners.

Walking in Sherwood Park

With the afternoon still relatively young, we decided to drive across to Clumber Park, not too far from Sherwood Forest, just up the road from Ollerton. This 3,800 acre National Trust property was once the country estate of the Dukes of Newcastle. 

In 1879, a disastrous fire swept through the house destroying the core of the building. It was rebuilt, the interior even more palatial than before. Then a second fire broke out in 1912. Fortunately nothing irreplaceable was destroyed and the accommodation was rebuilt.

All I can say is that they were a very careless lot.

Following the death of the 7^th Duke of Newcastle in 1928, the estate went into decline, neither his brother, the 8^th Duke, nor his nephew the future 9^th Duke, lived in the house and it was closed up. In 1928, the house was demolished and fixtures, fittings and even building materials were sold at auction. 

It was the intention of the 9^th Duke to build a new house on a different site in the park. However his divorce and the outbreak of war in 1939 brought a halt to such planning. Clumber was taken over by the War Department and used by the Army as a training area and an ammunition dump.

During the war, the estate was put up for sale. The National Trust purchased the property in 1946 as part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations. The Trust raised money by public appeal and received financial support from leading authorities in the area.

As a public park, it really is quite stunning. Entry is by a three mile stretch of lime trees, planted by the 4^th Duke in 1838; it is the longest such double avenue in Europe, with 1,296 trees along the main drive. While the house site is little more than a few raised concrete and stone marks on the expansive lawns, the stables remain and house an exhibition of the past grandeur, a café and the National Trust office. The lake is full of weed and thousands upon thousands of geese, swans and ducks. Bird droppings litter the walkways and lawns back from the lake, but none of this deters the hundreds and hundreds of folk who were visiting the park today.

The Church at Clumber Park

The Chapel of St Paul was commissioned by the 5^th Duke in 1864, but never completed, the 7^th Duke demolished it and commissioned a second chapel in 1886, dedicated this one to St Mary the Virgin. This was designed by George Frederick Bodley, cost £30,000 (the equivalent of nearly £3 million in today’s money) and is an over-the-top structure for a private chapel. The church has a central tower, which contains one bell and a 175 foot spire which rises out of an octagonal corona. It stands as complete as it ever did and looks rather incongruous in the gardens. Many a large town would be proud to have this as their parish church. It has in fact many features of a cathedral, although in a slightly smaller scale. Apparently there are weekly services held here even today which is probably just as well. Such a structure should not be wasted, and it does not beg recycling as a private dwelling as so many old churches find themselves to be.

We were anxious to pick up a few provisions before the superstores closed at four, their Sunday closing time, so we headed away and stopped by Ollerton, before heading south toward home, via the A614, the A6097 then south of Nottingham, turning directly westward across to our lovely little village.

En route, we passed a large construction site, just a couple of miles from home. Half a dozen cranes dominated the scene and a tantalising sign at the gate invited further research. This is the scene for a brand new Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre at the cost to the taxpayer of £300 million. The new facility will be four times the size of Headley Court, the institution that currently attends to this need. I wondered how many in the electorate were actively aware of what was going on in their patch.

Arriving home, we found ourselves still in time for the grand finale of the Tour de France. The Chauffeur was a happy man indeed.