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Wednesday 6th September 2023

The eyes of the sporting world will be on Nottinghamshire this September when our historic county hosts stage four of this year’s Tour of Britain cycle race.

Over 100 riders from the world’s leading teams will tackle a route between Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre, which has never previously hosted the race, and Newark-on-Trent on Wednesday 6 th September.

Centuries in the making, the legend of Sherwood continues to grow, with the stars of cycling set to add their stories to the tales of Robin Hood and his heroic acts that played out in the woodlands he is said to have roamed.

Along the way the peloton will also pass through the National Trust’s Clumber Park, Worksop, Harworth, Retford, Southwell, Tuxford and Collingham, as part of a 170 kilometre stage.

The winner of the race’s latest visit to Nottinghamshire’s will be crowned close to the banks of the River Trent and just a short distance from the city’s famous castle and the spectacular St Mary Magdalene’s Church.

This stage will mark the Tour’s fourth visit to Nottinghamshire in seven years. Last year’s visit to the county boosted the local economy by £4.34m thanks to an estimated 225,000 fans lining the route.

Full details of stage four – including the stage route and timetable – will be announced in due course.

Saturday 3rd June 2023

The 500RH has a stall at the Sherwood Forest Visitor’s Centre. Please come and say hello – between 10 am & 4 pm.

New admission arrangements mean that an adult pays £12 once and can visit all year, while accompanied children (15 years old and under) go free with each paying adult (up to 3 children) – making it a great, affordable family-friendly day out. The new admission arrangement will include access to the grounds, Brewhouse Yard Cottages, Robin Hood Adventures and Rebellion Galleries and the castle museum, unlimited for the 12 month period.

The announcement came as part of International Museums Day, and after the castle grounds hosted a sold-out screening of the Eurovision Song Contest final and crowds of visitors enjoyed the King’s Coronation and Coronation Concert screenings in May.

Nottingham City Council’s portfolio holder for leisure, culture and planning, Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis, said: “I am delighted to be able to announce that Nottingham Castle will open again on Monday 26th June. Nottingham without its castle is like Robin Hood without his merry men, so it’s going to be fantastic to have it back at the heart of our city’s life.

“We’ve already seen with the Coronation events and the sold-out Eurovision event that people are eager to return to the site – and we’re very keen to welcome them back. With the final chance for a grounds only sneak preview with the new ‘Medieval Legends’ open day, visitors of all ages can discover the grounds of the Castle during the bank holiday at the end of May ahead of the full reopening of the site.

“We hope this announcement will come as welcome news, as we have endeavoured to listen to what visitors didn’t like about the Trust’s admission arrangements, and I believe the simpler pricing and exceptional value we are announcing will help to encourage visitors, near and far, to come back again and again.”

Following the site’s £31m redevelopment, there is a new visitor centre and café at the entrance, a Hood’s Hideout adventure playground in the moat, as well as interpretative signage around the grounds to discover the site of the lost medieval castle. Inside the Ducal Palace, the galleries now offer modern, interactive experiences, including the Robin Hood Adventures and Rebellion Galleries and redesigned galleries for permanent collections of local art and crafts, and touring exhibitions.

The council will continue offering two fascinating cave tours – Mortimer’s Hole and King David’s Dungeon – at £5 per person, as well as opening the reinvigorated Brewhouse Yard area. The new Land Train will operate between Brewhouse Yard and the Ducal Palace at weekends and during the peak holiday season. The council will develop a programme of events, exhibitions, gallery talks and school visits, and offer the site for events such as weddings and corporate functions.

Opening times will be 10am to 5pm daily February to October and 11am to 4pm daily November to January. Free disabled parking will be available on-site, subject to advance booking and availability. Admission is £12 per adult and accompanied 15 years and under go free (three per adult) – ‘pay once, visit all year.’

Work towards the launch of The Robin Hood 500 is progressing well.
Our publisher, Extremis, are about to launch pre- orders to their book stores. It should be on sale through shops and on-line early in April.

Elaine and I have been out and about filming promotional videos for them.
We have been to Edwinstowe, where there are a real hot-spot of Robin Hood locations, including The Major Oak, and the official Visitor Centre, run by the RSPB.

We have also been to Beauvale Priory. This has a natural spring, possibly linked to a pagan past, named after Robin Hood. It also has connections with Lady Chatterley’s Lover, as DH Lawrence based his gamekeepers hut on a summerhouse in these woods.

The Robin Hood Highlights Itinerary is already on the 500RH website. I am a keen motorcyclist, so I have added a motorcycling itinerary to the members area.

I am well on the way to completing a walkers itinerary. This will suggest at least one walk on each day of your 500RH journey. This is taking a little time, as I am checking each of the suggested routes.