It was difficult knowing what to do with my afternoon off. By the time I’d been round Aldi to track down their prize-winning mince pies (which weren’t that good in the end) and eaten lunch, there wasn’t much time left.
Clumber is a bit too far, so I thought I’d have a look at the oaks of Sherwood Forest. Well, was I in for a surprise. The car park is closed, the new visitor centre is in place and they now have a new car park. It’s about 400 yards away from the visitor centre and across a main road. When you get to the visitor centre it’s a long way from the proper forest. I say this from distant observation as I couldn’t be bothered with the walk.
Several people feel the same way if Trip Advisor is to be believed.
In shock, I tried Budby Flash. It’s nothing much, on paper, just some flooded subsidence with a few birds, but it can be quite magical at times.
Budby Flash, Notts
The sun tried to be entertaining, a flock of tits came to frustrate my camera skills and despite a lack of funding to build a visitor centre I left feeling cold but happy.
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You mean Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood and all. Stuff of legends…but then he probably would have a fit and rob from the Visitor’s Centre to give to those that couldn’t afford it.
Yes, it would be interesting to see what he made of it.
Beautiful photos, Quercus! Budby Flash does look like a magical place.
It certainly has its moments…
People sit in rooms all day long planning how to make your life a little bit worse and they get paid for it.
They are certainly succeeding in my case and, to be fair, are providing value for money.
I like the pics. Could Sherwood Forest be going the way of Stonehenge?
It could well be, as they say the reason for the changes is to stop the pressure from visitor numbers – if that were true wouldn’t you just demolish the old centre and save money by not building a new one? I love Stonehenge but I loved it more before they regimented the whole experience. That just leaves Hardian’s Wall…
🙂
Beautiful shot of the lake, and I always enjoy seeing your robins, which look quite different from ours. I, too, didn’t know juncos were called snowbirds, and we have them aplenty in our yard. Learn something new everyday. 😉
Thank you. Our Robins are always willing to pose for a photograph.
Such chipper little birds.
Definitely!
I went there earlier this year, did I see the old visitor centre or the new one?
This is the new one. The old one was basically neglected until it died. Shame. The way to tell is that if you had to cross a road to it, it’s the new one. If the car park was conveniently placed next to the centre it’s the old one.
That first little bird is endearing. Today, when I woke up and opened the shades, i saw a whole bush full of little snowbirds (dark-eyed juncoes). And snow is predicted here, so they’ve done their job.
“In Virginia and Carolina they appear only in Winter: and in Snow they appear most.” Mark Catesby
I’d seen them mentioned before in blogs but didn’t know they were called snowbirds. Now I know that and I know about Mark Catesby – what an educational post! Thank you. 🙂
My mother, who is from Wisconsin, claims they come ahead of the snow–thereby predicting it. They too are cute little birds.
Who is going to disagree with a mother?
Heh. Not me. Not MY mother!
🙂 Yep!