What's the bid about?
 Heart of the Forest |
 Access in and around Sherwood |
 Recreating the Forest |
 Sherwood: A sense of pride and place |
1 » Heart of the Forest
At the heart of Sherwood: The Living Legend is the plan for world class and environmentally friendly visitor complex for Sherwood Forest. The Tree will stand proud at 100ft high and visitors will be treated to amazing views of the Sherwood landscape from the treetop viewing gallery.
The preferred site for building the new complex is just over the road from the current centre. That site is currently agricultural land located to the north of the National Nature Reserve (south of A616 and west of B6034). It is not wooded, so the construction of the new complex will not involve chopping down part of the forest to make way for the new building. Regardless of whether Sherwood: The Living Legend wins the lottery funding the existing visitor centre must be closed by 2010 as it is in a European Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a National Nature Reserve...
...click here for more information
The complex although an attraction in its own right will act an information point to find out about the many and varied activities and attractions in the wider Sherwood area.
A new visitor complex at Sherwood will feature: (click here to download PDF - 9.3MB)
- visitor information centre for the whole Sherwood area - find out where to go and what to do and see
- an education and discovery centre - learn about history, ecology and the Robin Hood legend
- a sustainable technology centre - learn how to be environmentally friendly
- retail and refreshment outlets - from good food to wooden bows and arrows, and the hats of course!
- meeting space and events facilities for small conferences, performances and events
Click for aerial view of the new proposed visitor complex
2 » Access in and around Sherwood
One of the most ambitious and far reaching elements of Sherwood: The Living Legend is the creation of a 250 kilometre network of walking, cycling and horse riding paths. 95 km of these will be completely new and introduce new road and river crossings to connect existing routes together.
This network of routes will be linked to the national cycle network, over 20 railway stations and dozens of bus stops. It will provide access to the new Sherwood visitor complex and local towns, villages and visitor attractions. This wide reaching network will link the counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and connect the towns and cities of:
- Nottingham
- Derby
- Chesterfield
- Sheffield
- Rotherham
- Doncaster
- Gainsborough
- Retford
- Newark
- Lincoln
The overall network of routes will be on a similar scale to the Pennine Bridleway or Hadrian’s Wall Path, it will be one of the largest and most comprehensive walking, riding and cycling networks in Europe.
We hope that this new and ambitious network of walking, cycling and horse riding routes will be used for family days out, as a sustainable way to get work and as a means of staying fit for young and old alike.
3 » Recreating the Forest
Agriculture, coal mining and commercial forestry have taken their toll on Sherwood. Much of old Sherwood bears little resemblance today to the 40-mile stretch of majestic forest from Robin Hood’s time.
Recreating the forest is a key element of the project. The plan is to convert at least 300 hectares of farmland (that’s roughly the size of 400 football pitches!), north and west of the River Trent back into wood and heath land. Most of the new trees will be native oak and birch along with other shrubs sourced from the Sherwood area.
The new trees and heath will connect together existing but fragmented remains of the original forest and improve the visual landscape along the main routes into Sherwood Forest, giving locals and visitors alike a much better sense of how the most well known forest in the world appeared hundreds of years ago.
4 » Sherwood: A sense of pride and place
Many people who live in the towns, villages and parishes north and west of the Trent take huge pride in their historical and folklore connections to Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood.
Sherwood: The Living Legend is an opportunity to celebrate the unique character and local distinctiveness of the communities who live near the most famous forest in the world.
Up to 50 communities will be given the opportunity to enhance the place where they live for the benefit of locals and visitors alike, by choosing a scheme that will improve their local environment and illustrate their unique connection to Sherwood.
Local people will be able to decide for themselves what sort of projects would benefit their local area, and will be encouraged to get actively involved, sharing their local knowledge and skills. Some examples might be:
- interpretation boards for important natural or historical features
- new community designed village signs
- designing nature trails or historical walks
- creating or improving open/community areas such as village greens, ponds and gardens
- tree, hedge and wild flower planting
- creating a community focal point such as locally designed artwork or a new market cross
The project will enshrine four core values inspired by the legend of Robin Hood: championing the community; promoting sustainable living; capturing myths and magic and respecting the past to influence and inspire the future.
