Childhood memories of a book which made me cry and a family outing which made me smile. The two things are connected. I was reminded of these memories on an Easter Monday trip to Sherwood Forest where I saw the Major Oak.
The early evening sun streamed through the window into my small bedroom, lighting up dust in the air and warming the quilted bedspread. The lump in my throat moved down and settled into a tight knot in my stomach. Hot tears spilled down my cheeks, this sadness was too much to bear.
I’d been impatient to get home and read the book which mam had bought for me from the gift shop, but the words on the first few pages broke my young heart.
They went something like this:
“Silent tears fell down Robert’s face while he watched his home burn. Then he lay down in the long grass, where he was safe from view and buried his face in the ground. He knew from then on, he would be an outlaw, and the green wood would be his only home.”
We’d had a perfect family day out at Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. Of course, I knew that was the home of Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John, Alan a Dale, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck and the rest of the Merry Men. I didn’t need any Hollywood film director to show me what it was like. Wandering along dusty forest paths, I could see it all.
I didn’t really need a book, but I’m so glad I got one. That was one of my favourite possessions and once I’d got over the trauma of discovering why Robert of Loxley became an outlaw called Robin Hood, I loved reading how Little John got his name and how he and Robin Hood fought with staves across a stream. I read about Maid Marian, the sheriff of Nottingham, robbing the rich to give to the poor and jolly songs and stories around the campfire. The pencil line drawings have stayed in my memory.
Which childhood books can you remember? Did any of them make you laugh or cry?
When I was a child, you could go inside The Major Oak, the huge tree which was meant to be Robin Hood’s hideaway. Sometimes it was called Robin Hood’s larder, where he hid the venison, that he’d claimed from the forest.
There were always long queues of eager visitors wanting to climb inside, through an opening in the trunk into a dank, dark, hollow space where I wanted to live! There was, and still is, a large open space around the tree, so it would be good for all the outlaws to gather.
Now, that open space is fenced off and thankfully, grass and other plants are growing now, where there used to be dry, compacted, bare earth.
The tree branches are held up with metal poles and some of its beautiful limbs are covered with lead to preserve them. In 2025, it produced fewer leaves than ever in recent years.
Still, it stands as witness to 800 years of forest life and when you’re there, and with a bit of imagination, you can see many stories when you stand and gaze at it.
The Major Oak isn’t the only ancient tree in Sherwood Forest.
If you get the chance, do visit it!
I’m very grateful to my parents for taking me to Sherwood Forest and for buying me the book which made me cry!
Wander Well,
Mandy.
Things I love:
- A walk in a forest.
- A good book.
- The legend of Robin Hood.
Wandering Through The Land Of Nod. 