When I looked at a map of England as a student, I saw the city of Nottingham. I asked a British friend if this was the same Nottingham from Robin Hood, and he said yes. I was determined to go, especially when I saw that there was a real Sherwood Forest nearby.
Sherwood Forest was not much of a forest. Of course, both times I went, it was early springtime, and the leaves hadn’t come out yet. A statue of Robin Hood fighting Little John can be seen at the entrance to the forest. As I walked along the path, I saw a large oak tree that was over 800 years old. A fence blocked it off so that people wouldn’t carve on it, and it had wooden scaffolding to hold up the heavy branches.
The town of Nottingham was similar to any other town in England, with a plain-looking, boxy, rectangular castle. It was more like a fort, and it had no turrets. Down the road from the castle was a tourist trap called “Robin Hood Centre,” where the story of Robin Hood is told Disney style, but without the ride. You walk through an indoor path with different scenes displayed on either side of you. I enjoyed it, only because I love the stories of Robin Hood.
