In the footsteps of kings and outlaws
Add to your mileage while discovering the hidden history and abundant wildlife at Sherwood Pines.
UPON REACHING A junction of tracks, you might notice a stone poking up from the fallen leaves. You may just as easily not notice it, as it’s only about knee height, and there’s nothing to tell you it’s there. Yet this is an old waymarker called Robin Hood’s Whetstone – an ancient gem we know virtually nothing about. No-one’s sure whether it actually has anything to do with the outlaw synonymous with this part of Nottinghamshire, or if it’s from a different era altogether.
It’s one of many pieces of history tucked away, without fanfare, in Forestry England’s Sherwood Pines – the largest forest in the East Midlands that’s open to the public. Originally called Clipstone Heath and part of the ancient Sherwood Forest, it was once a hunting ground for royalty, then later used as a training camp during the First World War, where soldiers would practise trench warfare. As with Robin Hood’s Whetstone, the remains of the trenches they built can still be seen today, though are not easy to find. There is, however, a replica trench within the forest that gives you an idea of what life must have been like in these narrow hollows.
Many might think of Sherwood Pines as a popular family destination, rather than a place of peace and seclusion where you can make decent inroads to your 1000-mile target. And it’s true that it attracts upwards of 700,000 visitors a year; there’s a café, a visitor centre, mountain bike trails, play areas, a Go Ape course, and you can even try your hand at disc golf (where you fling Frisbees into baskets).
But most of this activity is in one patch – you’ll get the rest of the forest largely to yourself. Nowhere is this more apparent than the new Ranger’s Path. This not only adds 4½ miles to your tally, but also enables you to see the whole forest and the different environments within it.
You start by passing a Gruffalo sculpture (part of a popular kids’ trail) and with daredevils clambering over
your head on high ropes. But the crowds quickly disperse and soon it’s just you, the occasional dog walker or cyclist, and thousands of towering Scots pines.
Some of the tracks become narrower, adding to the sense that you’re somewhere wilder than before, and soon you reach a line of mature beech trees, where you can sit on the fallen leaves and listen to the wind blowing through the canopy. You might also hear robins, wrens and great tits in full song, or the high shrill of a goldcrest in the nearby Scots pines. And if you look up, buzzards are often spotted gliding overhead.
A little further along the trail, you’ll reach a patch of heathland, providing a real contrast to the forest walking, and which is carefully managed to entice the likes of adders, butterflies and moths.
It’s not long after this that you may (or may not!) spot Robin Hood’s Whetstone, shortly after which is a crop of newly planted trees, showing the forest in its many stages, and making you realise how different it’ll look in 10 or 20 years’ time.
Towards the end of the Ranger’s Path there are Viking-style sculptures – a nod to yet another part of this area’s history. Plus, there’s a series of narrower paths that take you through attractive sections of heather and deciduous trees. Returning to civilisation, you wander through a large field teeming with dog walkers and families enjoying a day out, towards the inviting café at the far side.
In truth, there are almost limitless paths to explore around Sherwood Pines, and you could visit 100 times without walking the same route twice. But in the Ranger’s Path you have a good-length trail that’s sign posted throughout. It’s never hilly enough to slow you down and it allows you to see exactly what the forest is all about.
And if you have kids who make it tricky to get your miles in, what better way to keep them entertained than to leave them (and an adult!) to play disc golf or walk the Gruffalo Trail, while you escape for an hour or two to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the forest.
Soon it’s just you, the occasional dog walker or cyclist, and thousands of towering Scots pines.