afternoon in sherwood

[pommy chris]

been for a run out today.took the family to sherwood forest.so heres a few pics

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they sure are giving the old major oak a helping hand.you havent been able to get near the tree for many years now.but i guess its the only way.we used to go inside when we were kids.just missed a longbow demo as they had packed up and ready for home.takes me 30mins in the car.been out all morning at the wood shooting.got back scoffed me sunday roast and had a power nap.so was a bit late going.found out about a anglo saxon round house thats not to far away why we were there so that will be another sunday outing.hopefully the weathers starting to pick up now been very wet last few weeks.

[hardgainer]

What a fantastic old Oak....if only they could tell us the story's that have surrounded them over the century's. If you look hard you can see the shadows of bowmen reclining in the limbs waiting for a fat Noble to relieve of his purse. Great shots Chris.

[buzz]

so how old is the tree?

[pommy chris]

they rekon the tree to be 800 to 1000 years old.

[Nephew]

Man, imagine having that kind of history just down the road a bit! Great pics, Pommy, can't wait to see some of the roundhouse. Have you seen any authentic neolithic villages?

[buzz]

they rekon the tree to be 800 to 1000 years old.

That is the sort of thing that spins us Aussies out....

Australian pre European settlement was not chronicled in the same manner as much of the world. Without centres of civilisation there was not the same history recording that took place from the Ancient Sumerian's, Egyptians and Persians through until when we started emailing (and duly forgot to keep 'records' as such).

So to us, early 19th century is really old.

But turn on the telly and on the Brit shows 'Antique Roadshow' Aunt Betty trots in with a sideboard and some old dishes from the attic that someone immediately picks as being early 18th century... and 'Grand Designs' on the ABC has somebody doing a resto on a medieval cottage.

[pommy chris]

there are a lot of other oaks they reckon to be 500 + years old aswell.hard to think of when you think of how many must have been cut down the centuries.but with it being one of the biggest royal hunting grounds in this country it was well looked after i suppose.not so good if you was a peasant though.harsh times.and harsh penalties for those unlucky enough to get caught putting a arrow into the kings deer.ive read somewhere that you couldnt even walk in the forest with the bow strung.
we have the robinhood festival coming up at the end of the month so i will take some more pics for you all.lasts for a week.with allsorts of stuff going on archery,jousting and the like.couple of years back there was a fantastic show put on with birds of prey.one of the best things ive ever watched.

[pommy chris]

mort,if you into the neolithic period then it has to be stonehenge.havent made it there yet but been to a few others when i was younger we have some in the derbyshire peak district.its all really interesting stuff and there are alot of different groups in this country involved in different times.do you guys get a show called time team over there? a guy called tony robinson presents it.thats baldrick if you ever seen a show called blackadder.they go to a site each week and have 3 days to do a dig.they came down the road from our wood to codnor castle.and when they dug round the moat near to what would have been the draw bridge they pulled out a big gold coin he just rubbed it a couple a times with his fingers and it was like it had been dropped only yesterday.

[hardgainer]

Is that the Baldrick of "I have a cunning plan"

[GrahameA]

Time Team.

ABC TV

6pm Tuesdays

Just started a series re-run Wednesday 11am

[Nephew]

I try to never miss Time Team, until recently it was on both ABC1AND 2. That's what T.V. is for, I reckon, educating the masses. Your a very lucky man, Pommy, I'd love to be surrounded by so much history. My better half is from Manchester, and she's so casual about 300 year old buildings. Being from Aus, the idea of having many buildings of that age around is just incredible to me!

[pommy chris]

thats exactly the way i feel about tv mort.if it doesnt exercise my mind im not interested.the amount of young people i work with who just talk about the crap soaps and so called celebrity shows just numbs my mind.manchester ive been to a few times mainly to the old apollo theater to watch bands.a nice run if you take the old road up through buxton.
yes hardgrainer thats the one.

[nimrod]

chris last time I was there 35 yrs ago used to have family in worksop that was our day out in they days you could wander anywhere you wanted except the oak will have changed a bit since we have a medievil fair next month at Lanark supposed to be pretty good swmbo has plans to go means no shopping for me went 2 yrs aco had a dispute with one the the actors giving a speil to some passers by about how the bow was not used against horses as it wouldnt kill them turned out he was a VEGAN just liked dressing up will be looking for him to talk to this year will take some pics if I can cheers
ps you might like to check out jacks shed seems a decent site they have a rant page

[buzz]

....had a dispute with one the the actors giving a speil to some passers by about how the bow was not used against horses as it wouldnt kill them turned out he was a VEGAN

With the Chinese Olypics just around the corner I am sure there must be some lovely horse meat recipes you could provide him with. What with dog apparently being removed from the menu.
But back on topic....

The time team episode here the other week was good - the one were the Dutch found a Roman long river barge that they speculated had been scuttled to form a reinforcement to a river bank - the rivre had long sinces meandered elsewhere and this was in an industrial suburb 10-20 feet under where they were putting down a bike path....

I live in a city that was planned from the very outset, and started life in the 1910-1920 period. So we don't even have the grand colonial or even 'real' federation style places here. I know I am envious of places here that are boomed even just 10 to 20 years earlier and featured lots of art deco / nouveau stylings.... The only upside of the planning was that a government body has ensured that the legacy of the plan has been preserved and certain key stylings like the public spaces and avenues are retained.

[pommy chris]

nimrod. worksop, not to far away from us.there used to be agood archery suppliers called eagle classic archery.very nice people to deal with.but they have now stopped trading.think the lady who ran it went back into teaching.

[Stickbow Hunter]

A great old tree mate - history. Thanks for sharing.

Jeff

[Sparra]

Gaday Chris....I was there just last month and they sure get the crowds in...There was some sort of festival going on and it was almost shoulder to shoulder....
Cheers...Sparra

[kerrille]

i keep hearing we've got no history in oz ,not far from where i live we have aboriginal mittens a minimum of 20.000 yrs old also a canoe tree thats also 1000s of years old ,lake mungo which has had settlement 40,000 yrs old even Dino bones travelling through oz cave paintings who knows how old we do have it here its just a bit different . i mean imagine focusing through a tip thats been around longer than civilisation and it 5ks from home.But ''A'' going through sherwood that would be a dream come true.


...nev..

[pommy chris]

yes that was the robinhood festival sparra.but i didnt make it.could not even take a holiday in august.been flat out at work trying to keep our american owners happy.and what did we get a 30mins bbq. we all should have known what to expect.mind you cant complain the moneys sat here waiting for my new bow.
now kerrille i wondered when or if somebody was gonna chip in with that.because i could not agree more with you mate.you guys have some fantastic history,culture and land.and a bit more sun