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29 September 2014

Visiting the Major Oak

Nottinghamshire has a lot of history, one of it's most famous residents of course, was Robin Hood. If you are visiting the area then one of the most likely places to be on your must see list is the Major Oak. This beautiful piece of forest is filled with the most majestic oak trees and the one everyone wants to see is the Major Oak.

At between 800-1000 years old, it is now held up by supports, but this is only to help it live longer! On our visit there, we learnt about oak trees, how they take 300 years to grow, live for about 300 years and then die over 300 years, the supports on the Major Oak help this process and mean the tree stays here for people to enjoy for much longer.

Oak trees are beautiful, the shapes they form and their leaves are unmistakeable, some of the older trees in this forest have bands on them to help them stay alive.


We looked at the tree stumps to see if we could figure out how old the trees had been when they fell, there were lots of information points, to help us learn about the wildlife and we saw lots of fungi.


Some of the stumps had been made into fairy houses, we loved this sign that told you not to poke things into the trees trunk as it is a home to many little creatures.


On a few of the trees there were these fab faces made from clay, feathers, twigs and leaves, we are definitely going to give these a try!


Onto the major oak itself, you can't really tell from the pictures the size of the tree, but believe me,  it is big.


The trunks on oak trees are hollow yet the outside keeps on growing, the hole in the trunk here an adult could get through standing up, the reason for the fibre glass on part of the trunk was due to some ignorant person trying to burn it down and this will stop any mold setting in.


This weekend there was an archer talking about the bow and arrows that Robin Hood and the knights of the crusades would have used, he gave an awesome display of archery.


He then went on to tell us about the different arrows, allowed the children to try holding the sword and went on to tell us about the battle of Agincourt. It was really interesting and gave an insight into the world of Robin Hood.


Linking up to Magic Moments on The Oliver's Madhouse




17 comments :

  1. Gosh that's a big tree! Looks like a fun day out

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  2. I love the fairy houses. I've not made it to the Major Oak in years. Such a shame when it's so close. Lovely pictures Ellie #magicmoments

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    1. Thank you, it really is a lovely place to take the kids. Allows your imagination to run wild.

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  3. Sounds a great place to visit. Have to admit I didn't know that about Oaks. I can't believe someone would try to burn it - how sad (and stupid).

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    1. Yes very sad and extremely stupid, they are such a wonderful tree and so beautiful.

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  4. This place looks cool, my girls would love it :-) #magicmoments

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  5. Wow even with the support it looks really quite regal and majestic for a tree doesn't it? It looks like a great place to visit :)

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    1. It is such an important part of local history for us and such a great place to imagine the days long gone.

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  6. Looks like you've had such a great time! The kids would love to go there!

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  7. Wow this sounds completely amazing!! I would love to go there! What a wonderful way to spend the day :) x

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  8. Wow! What a fantastic place to visit and explore! And so many interesting little bits to learn and do (archery is quite genius!) #magicmoments

    Maria

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  9. Awww this tree is massive and so beautiful! I got the scale when you show the man in the fence. I wish I can see this tree. Just amazing. #magicmoments

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  10. wo love the major oak, my great great grandad helped put those supports up! .. i spent all my childhood in those woods

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