New exhibition celebrates Sherwood Forest and Major Oak

A special photographic exhibition is being launched about Sherwood Forest and the Major Oak to celebrate its 60th anniversary as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Nottinghamshire County Council have launched the competition and to get local snappers interested they have given Chad these two pictures.

One shows the Major Oak covered in snow, while the other dates from around 1860 and is believed to be one of the earliest surviving images of the famous tree.

In the photo, a man peers out of the main trunk of the tree – said to have been the historic hideout of Robin Hood and his Merry Men in medieval times.

The image, courtesy of the county council and the bygones photographic website Picture The Past, shows the tree decades before any support posts were introduced.

The county council is appealing for photographs from people locally, nationally and globally of the Major Oak and across Sherwood Forest to contribute to a Sherwood Memories exhibition in December.

Rangers already have a number of interesting images for the forthcoming exhibition being organised in partnership with The Sherwood Forest Trust, including a photo from 1900 showing workmen erecting the first structural supports to the tree, and a shot from 2012 documenting the Olympic Flame’s visit to the forest.

Coun John Knight, committee chairman for culture, said: “This is one of the earliest photographs we have on record of the Major Oak and we hope it can help inspire people to look back through photographs they have of visits to Sherwood Forest which they will be happy to share as part of this important exhibition. This is an important year of celebration for Sherwood Forest.”

The Major Oak weighs around 23 tonnes, has a girth of ten metres and a spread of 28 metres and is one of the biggest oak trees in England.

On Sunday, 26th October, the country park will hold its annual Seed Hunt Sunday event, with two guided walks, one from 11.30am to 1pm and the other from 2pm to 3.30pm.

As part of the event, visitors will get to stop and collect the acorns from some of Sherwood’s amazing and magical ancient oak trees along the way. The walk ends up at the Major Oak for a close up look at the Major Oak.

Visitors will then get to learn how to grow the acorns at home and then bring the sapling back in a couple of years’ time for replanting in the wider Sherwood area.

People are being invited to send any old images of Sherwood Forest country park, to county council Site Warden, Charleen Case, by November 21 via post or email to [email protected]. Attachments should be no larger than 5MB. They will be displayed as part of the Sherwood Memories exhibition in the Oak Room at Sherwood Forest country park between 5th-7th December.