This morning we decided to make the trip to see The Major Oak which is quite a substantial walk from the Sherwood Forest Visitors Centre a couple of roof-corners of which are Picture 1.It was too far for me to tackle but I have been promised pictures by other WoW-ers. However I am pleased to report that I anaged to walk considerably further with my wheely-frame than I could with sticks. My weight is more evenly distributed and, as I am leaning forward to walk, I feel stable. So, so far so good. There were five of us this morning, Helen, Kevin, Reg, Mike and me and we needed two cars. Inevitably I overshot the entrance to The Visitors Centre but eventually we got there.
The place is well laid out for all ages, plenty of seats and Robin Hood stuff, a statue of Robin and Little John fighting with their staves on the bridge (a favourite scene) second only for me to when he is dying and fires the arrow through the window so he can be buried where it falls. Great stuff.Could a fungi person, or someone with a suitable reference book, identify this for us please. It was the other side of a fence so the customary 50p piece wasn't possible. The bole of the tree was around 8" diameter if that helps. The top bit looked like a fossilised bobble cap and the colour (as it leaves here) is spot on.
Maybe it's the time of year but the forest was rather weird. Such a lot of dead and dying trees it had a post nuclear holocaust feel to it. Anyway, replete with knobbly trees, we decided on a revisit to The Bird in Hand at Blidworth for lunch.
It well deserves its name of 'the pub with the view' and we were lucky enough to get one of the two window tables with the Picture 3 view of the rolling Nottinghamshire countryside. Lunch was the usual chip-baguette again and excellent quality and not too expensive.
After that home, papers, crossword, laptop stuff, e-mails and such...... This morning a fledgeling flew into the kitchen window and killed itself and Y hadn't liked to move it so I did the necessary. Sorry to say it was a very young and beautiful thrush. Why couldn't it have been a starling ? Vexatious creatures that they are. I don't really mean that because I accept that starlings have equal rights with thrushes.Comments
AnonymousRob...... I have every confidence that your talk to Matlock Camera Club will go well ! Your experience is such that you could deliver the lecture , half asleep after 4 pints. When I was at Canning Circus I often used to go out at lunchtime with Chris Throup, the then news editor at Radio Nottingham. He used to down 4 pints, return to his desk and read the 1pm news without a slur or a hitch. I never knew how he managed it.
Thanks for the St George's Day poems, click here folks to read them. Personally I prefer the Brian Patten to Elvis McGonagal. He seems to be trading on the William McGonagall name whose poetry is a hoot. Nobody ever knew if he did it on purpose - it didn't scan, the rhymes were cringe making and he earned the title of Britain's worst poet. It is so awful it almost becomes compulsive reading !
Bungus ........ Yes. My Epson scans (ha ha!) very well and it is an excellent photocopier and I'm pleased with my new HP printer so far. I shall run them side-by-side and have modified my desk space to allow for this. Y rather cuttingly asked if perhaps we should consider having an extension built?
My zimmer has three wheels not two. So while the motorbike concept would be OK I'm doubtful if a tricycle image would do much for my street cred. And I loved the 'Willbury' stuff.
AnonymousReg.... Sorry to get you into trouble with Senior Management with the Turner video side-bar stuff. You should have waffled something about 'having to pursue my Art'. It might have worked, but probably not.
With Bob Dylan's birth name being Robert Allen Zimmerman has, over the years, been the source of much fun about the poor chap. He was called 'The Zimmer Man' by some, but it certainly didn't hold him back did it?
Thanks for the computer and IT stuff - we all have lots to learn I think. It's good fun though isn't it?
Quotation time....... This I like ----->
"There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality."
Although I have the link to Jill's cruise liner I thought there's no point in publishing it because I've just checked and it's pitch black. Then I thought that, when people read this tomorrow it will probably be daylight. So here it is - the bridge webcam of the Queen Victoria. I hope they are having a good time.
Tomorrow is Burton Joyce day for Y and I have the AGM of the Camera Club in the evening. Catch you tomorrow. Sleep tight.
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Strange that you should be so impressed with the visitor centre at Sherwood Forest. I have always been happy enough with it but the official view is that it urgently needs replacement (because of the earth being compacted to the detriment of growth, I believe).
ReplyDeletePleased to hear that the wheels are working.
The tree growth is certainly a (or some) bracket fungus, probably Lacquered Bracket (Ganoderma resinaceum). Very common, esp on birch.
I think the Little John meets RH is probably the best known and key episode in the legend.
Sorry about the baby thrush; there aren’t enough of them.
We have an unwelcome pair of magpies among our regular visitors and I consider them less welcome than starlings (which we get very few of, not having open spaces – they all go on next doors lawn).
I have always understood that reporters are notoriously heavy drinkers (along with detectives) so your story does not entirely surprise me.
If I had more than a pint-and-a-half at lunchtime I just wanted to sleep in the afternoon.
On the other hand, I have been to several ‘drinks before lunch parties’ which have gone on until the early hours of the following morning.
I can see no connection between the Elvis McGonagall poem and those of William McGonagall. The structure (hardly the right word for William’s efforts although I find them amusing) is totally different, as is the subject matter. I think the Brian Patten is closer (given the one badly scanning line)!
I didn’t realise you had already replaced the Epson. What sort of price are HP compatible cartridges?
I too run mine side-by side, mainly using the Dell which is more economical on ink (free).
I cannot see why your arrangement should attract criticism or pointed barbs (unless they are in your sitting room?)
You are right about the tricycle image even though I have seen ‘angels’ on them.
April 23
Shakespeare born, 1564 (?) and died, 1616;
and Stratford Memorial Theatre opens, 1879
De Sade publishes ‘Justine, or the misfortunes of virtue’, 1791
Wordsworth and Rupert Brooke die (1850, 1915)
Biggest ‘Ban the Bomb’ demo in Hyde Park, 1962
First decimal coins issued, 1968
Birth of Turner, 1775, Shirley Temple, 1928 and Roy Orbison, 1936
Graham, great photos again, great view from the pub window. If I recall I'm sure you picked up a book during one of your many charity shop raids called British Wildlife which will help you identify the fungus. In it you will find a similar picture to your fungus and it says it is called Hoof Fungus and as Bungus said is to be found on Birch trees but this adds more-or-less confined to the highlandsa of Scotland. Latin name being Fomes fomentarius.
ReplyDelete