Genealogy Chat

Went for a wander an hour ago on tinternet,as yer do,and ended up on a site about avery large Oak Tree in Sherwood forest called The major oak-its HUUUUGE I tell yer.........anyroad up,the site was run by a chap called john palmer.........hes collected 300 acorns from the tree and nutured them into saplings-.........he originally wanted to send them all round the world but can't...........as a result of this.........he has purchased a 7 acre plot of land in Dorset and has planted the lot there hoping that one day it becomes a forest of its own !!..........just thought Id share that with you ......

Do you know whereabouts in Dorset, Alter?? Merry

how nice! think my new neighbour did the same with Leylandi but planted them all in her own BL**dy garden! Oh and she says they are not leylandi , they are fir trees! DOH! Jess

Its far from the madding crowd he says-maybe hes keeping stum as to the location,so they get the best chance of getting established-apparently hes mixed in willows as protection.

Oh, so in Thomas Hardy country.....near Dorchester.......TA! Merry

hiya alter, it's not too far from me, major oak that is, is supposed to be 700 years old, and robin hood was supposed to have hidden in it, I knew a few years back they were doing genetics on it, perhaps cloning would be better word as they reckoned, it was dying and becoming sterile, just goes to show eh!!! Julie

that sounds lovely good luck to him. Jess I have planted lots of lovely Conifers in my garden all around the boundary and we told our neighbour not to worry we would keep them pruned but they asked us to leave them as they like them too, unless of course they are trying to block us out!!!!

Hey up me ducks! I grew up not far from the Major Oak, over the county line in Derbyshire. I have actually been inside it, as a child. On one visit there, there was an incident involving many bottles of Pepsi Cola which left me feeling pretty green about the gills. The tree was in pretty bad shape back then in the early 1960s, is it still standing? There used to be a place in Nottingham that has the Robin Hood Experience. You sat in a little chair thing and it rides around all these medieval tableaux, complete with smells and flying arrows (is that still there, I wonder?). My friend and I had to laugh because the voices all sounded like people we knew from school.

My fathers side all go back to this area- Ive realised that most of them stayed in and around EDWINSTOWE(Edwins Tower)-village where Maid marion and Robin Hood weresupposed to be married,PLEASLEY,PLEASLEYHILL,OLLERTONand MANSFIELD. Records are going back to at least 1600 on one line - relatives of mine were very active in Edwinstowe and are well documented-leaving behind examples of their work in the Church etc.I'm very lucky in that way and still have a lot to discover. I have a watercolour of Sherwood forest by walter albert Tudsbury-he painted there all his life -he was born in 1858 and locals have told me stories about him.I also have a beautiful carved oak wall cabinet-by the family-don't know which member-but the family exhibited at the 1851 Great exhibition and the 1870 Paris Exhibition,gaining commissions and commendations from the King.The familyand many past generations lived in the village ,and some branches moved to Staveley.

Lesley It's the Tales Of Robin Hood now, never been but it's still on (and don't laugh everyone else who reads this it is so obvious) wait for it...... Maid Marion Way in town! I remember they did put a boundary round the tree to protect it because of it's age etc as it's still a tourist attraction Elaine

You wont believe this >>>>>>>>>>>>>. after put up this thread last night after reading about THE MAJOR OAK ....... today at Uttoxeter at 230 a horse called Major Oak owned by The Little Acorn partnership is running in a race. !!!!!!

The oak still exists but was fenced off quite a few years ago.Also the big lower branches are so heavy they have Y supports underneath. What a coincidence AE, about the race I mean. Kat

I went to college opposite Sherwood Forest. Happy days...

Alter It's fate, put a fiver on it!!!!

Alter, you didn't tell everyone that the man cloning the Major Oak named some of the 29 willow trees after each team member in 'the tremendously exciting ' (his words) Ashes Series at cricket in 2005. Also, those of you who have never had the pleasure of visiting this splendid tree, you can now do so through the wonders of the Internet. A 360 degree experience of standing inside its hollow trunk. http://www.bbc(.)co.uk/nottingham/360/where_to_go/sherwood_forest/major_oak_interior(.)shtml remove the bracket, of course. It was only after starting this family tree research that I realised that I am a true East Midlands girl, with roots solidly planted in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

http://www(.)bbc(.)co(.)uk/nottingham/360/where_to_go/sherwood_forest/major_oak_angle.shtml

Thats true Lesley-missed that detail out...well you have to leave something to discover,don't you !!......... The horse came third !! Im just looking at the carving work on this cabinet-just thinking of my Tudsbury rellies working away in the cottage on perhaps oak from the forest......if someone broke into the house and tried to steal it,I shudder to think how mental i would react-they would see me transform into some possesssed maniac !!