Sherwood Forest, Bolsovar Castle and Hayfield

We left the Nottingham campsite early enough as we had a long day ahead of us. Our first stop of the day was Sherwood Forest Visitors Centre. We did the recommended walk, passing by the “Great Oak”. It wasn’t what we expected, so we moved along to our next stop of the day, Bolsovar Castle. Once we arrived at the castle we were redirected to alternate parking as it was full. A few kilometers away we parked in a field and followed the small crowd to the Castle. This was supposed to be a free visit for us today, as it is part of the English Heritage sites. Today is a Bank Holiday though and the Castle was hosting a Jousting Tournament. Because we are EH members, we paid half price (£10) to get in. Once inside the castle’s entrance there were many families scattered about watching the various entertainment. The main stage, was by far the largest and had the most viewers. Here, the knights would perform various tasks to gain points, including sword fights etc. Nothing was going on at the moment though, as it was a musical intermission. The 3 piece band was walking around the square stage amongst the audience. We sat down knowing an event was about to take place but only managed to stay for 10 minutes before deciding to leave and visit the castle before the hoards of spectators did so as well. Julie’s highlight was getting up close to various birds of prey they had on display and were using in an upcoming falconry event. The castle was decent, although needed plenty of work. What we enjoyed most about the castle was the room layout. We wandered around the site a bit more, enjoying the splendid panoramic view of the surrounding countryside before calling it quits and making our way back to the van. We passed by a grocery store and decided to pick up some much needed supplies. After buying my beer and Julie’s Smirnoff, and a few hamburger toppings we continued our journey north. This leg of the drive was the longest we have done since being in England. This drive is through what is considered to be England’s “wild land”, the Peak District. The name of this area is deceiving, or just plain wrong. There are many hills, and sometimes they might be jagged enough to make a peak (we think we saw one). Despite the obvious lack of mountains, the area is beautiful. It is mostly farm land and there are areas that have been left unclaimed. The small town we stayed at for the night was Hayfield, near the top of the Peak District.