Meeting the Vikings at Sherwood Pines

Living on the outskirts of North Nottingham gives us easy access to lots of places to visit; everywhere from Newstead and Rufford Abbeys to Sherwood Forest and Sherwood Pines.

These are all great places for fun activities, and this month has seen us visit Sherwood Pines to meet and greet some Vikings. Well not real ones, but as close as we will ever get without boarding a long boat time machine.

With a camp set up in the forest and a battleground recreation in full flow, it was a great way to see how they might have lived all those years ago.

The children were quite excited about the fighting, although it wasn't real it at least gave us an idea of the kinds of weapons the Vikings used and the strategies they would have taken. It would have been a gruesome time, especially as they didn't really have much in the way of armour.

There was an example of a long boat and you could smell the camp before you saw it. The wonderful smell of wood burning on the camp fires wafted through the air as the Vikings prepared a lunchtime feast.

We got to see how they would have lived in the camp, what they would have traded and made themselves.

We watched make a bowl out of wood using a bow lathe, a tool that dates back to Egyptian times. We were all impressed at how long this method had been used, in fact it was used up until the 60s.

It was fun to see how they would have lived in the Viking times, even more fun to have a go. We churned some butter, had a go at grinding some wheat to make flour and watched them making glass beads in a furnace.

This was a fantastic day out that brought history to life in a way that TV and books just don't cut it. Experiencing the sounds, the sights and the smells and getting to be a part of the making and creating process is one of the the best way to learn, I have found.

The Gruffalo Trail at Sherwood Pines

After a lot of rain and rubbish weather, Wednesday saw a break with some nice sunshine, so I packed up a picnic and some games and headed to Sherwood Pines to walk round the Gruffalo Trail and a few hours in the fresh air.

First we went to meet the Gruffalo, the attention to detail was great with the purple prickles on his back and the wart on the end of his nose. The kids loved him and gave him a big hug!

It was easy to spot the trail from the path with lots of brightly coloured bunting leading the way.

First we stopped and saw the mouse, we've read this story so many times it wasn't difficult to tell it to them as we walked through the forest.

Along the way there were lots of signs which gave you tasks to do, such as listen out for sounds you can here and spot colours in the forest.

Next was a sign asking us to make a character from the book out of things from the forest floor,  we chose to make the snake out of pine cones and a rock, it looks really good with the pine cone seeds looking like scales.

Next we had to move like the different creatures in the book, can you slither like a snake or stomp like a Gruffalo. 

Next we took a detour to look round some houses and play a game of hide and seek, spotting what bugs we could see under old bits of bark and then onto building a den. This is a really great way of getting the children to work together and I loved den building when I was younger.

Time for a climb...

After a few hours on the park, a hot chocolate and ice cream stop we headed back to the car but before we came home we had time to look in the woods again. My daughter adding to the collection of pine cones we have and my son making himself a stick man complete with sword and shield. 

This park is a great place to visit if you like biking, playing or just exploring.

Linking up to Country Kids on Coombe Mill

Weekend in the Sun

This weekend has been just gorgeous, as we had a free weekend we decided to make the most of the sunshine and head out to Rufford Abbey and Sherwood Pines with a spot of gardening when we got home.

We visit Rufford a lot throughout the year, but I don't think we have been on such a spectacular day before, sun shining I donned my Sun Jellies and headed out into the sun.

It is hard to believe that less than a hundred years ago this was a lavish and beautiful house, now it is a ruin in places.

The cellar was really beautiful and the abbey is said to be haunted...

This tree was supposedly planted by Charles II, if you remember your history then Charles II was overthrown by Oliver Cromwell.

On to the playground, lots of tubes and places to run, jump and hide.

Onto the sensory garden, with lots of musical instruments made out of natural objects and things to run around, through and to see.

There is a tiny house with windows and in each window is a different object, I loved this foot.

 Running across the lawn

Further into the park is a section where you can watch cars driving through the ford, always lots of people watching and even at 21+10 I still enjoy it. We got the chance to drive through the ford the next day as we visited nearby Sherwood Pines, the kids loved it in the car as much as, if not more than watching ;)

Sunday we visited Sherwood Pines, there is lots to do. First we had a picnic and a kick of the football, then the children found some pinecones and sticks to make stickmen with.

We found this area where you could build dens, loads of logs to build up against the trees.

There are also lots of these houses in the woods which are perfect for chasing each other in and around.

Finally after a spot of gardening and therefore trees to get rid of we had an impromptu fire in the garden and of course marshmallows.

Overall the sun has been most welcome this weekend and what a lovely weekend it was, spending it just the four of us.