Guest Speaker; Steve Horne: “Birklands Forest in 39 sites or thereabouts”! Steve began his illustrated talk by saying that it would be about the history of what’s hidden away in Birklands Forest. There are still several hundred ancient oaks remaining in various parts of the forest, many in a poor state of repair. The Forest is situated between Warsop, Edwinstowe and Budby. The forest was Crown Woodland until the early 1800’s when it passed to the Duke of Portland it was then that the nature of the forest changed from natural woodland to commercial woodland and saw the demise of many ancient oaks which were seen by the Dukes as uncommercial and were felled. A Map of the forest was displayed to familiarise everyone with the places Steve was talking about and it would start with the newest feature and travel backwards in time. 1. Fire Tower. The slide showed four metal pegs rising from the forest floor; these were the base for the fire watch tower situated in the forest and visible from the Woodhouse/Edwinstowe road it was still there until the mid-1950’s when it was dismantled. 2. Budby Common Heathland. Here a patch of grass grows a straw colour and there is a total absence of heather. The reason for this is because this was the area that the military disposed of cordite after the 2 nd World War and heather will not grow in it. The area was also used for military training from the end of WW2 until the early 60’s after which it became open heathland which people could walk. A few years ago the MoD decided that after several decades of unhindered access to the public they would close it off as too dangerous! So now it is out of bounds to us. 3. Ammunition Stores Five ammunition store sites have been found so far within the forest. Starting close to the Edwinstowe road and heading towards Gleadthorpe. The sites consist of a concrete base with a raised banking to three sides. The construction was of a small Nissan type hut for the storage of ammunition in WW2. This was surrounded by trees usually Oaks or Chestnuts to act as camouflage to conceal the huts and they were away from populated areas for obvious reasons. A Shell casing found in the wood was passed around for members to examine. 4. WW2 Trenches Again near the Warsop/Budby road are five WW2 trench sites. These are ZigZag trenches and a circular (hole) Sentry post used to guard the ammunition sites from the prying youth of the area. Again this area was closed to the public until 1966. 5. St Edwin’s Cross Near the Edwinstowe Road the cross marks the site of a Royal Chapel, Chantry and Hermitage dedicated to King/Saint Edwin of Northumbria. In 1201 King John paid the Hermit of Clipstone 40 shillings a year to celebrate King Edwin’s soul and that of his ancestors. Similar payments are recorded by other Kings until 1548 (disillusion of monasteries by King Henry V111 perhaps?). Survey maps show there was a chapel here in 1630. The cross was erected by the 6th Duke of Portland in 1912. Who was King Edwin? He was part of the Northumbrian Royal family. As a relative of the king he was moved out of Northumbria because at that time any male blood relative was seen as a rival to the throne and more often than not killed. He spent time in Mercia and East Anglia. In East Anglia he came under the protection of King Rædwald, who is probably the King buried at Sutton Hoo. In 616 at the Battle of the River Idle Rædwald supported Edwin against the King of Northumbria. The battle was won and Edwin became King, but with a debt of allegiance to King Rædwald, making Rædwald king of all the Angles. Edwin converted to Christianity, mainly at the insistence of his wife, Æthelberht, sister of the King of Kent. There were mass conversions and baptisms in Northumbria which resulted, after his death, with Edwin being made a Saint. There were still challenges to his kingship and in 633 at the Battle of Hatfield he was killed. There is a strong belief that the Battle of Hatfield took place near Cuckney at High Hatfield, situated to the right of the road from Cuckney Hill to Cuckney. His body was taken through the forest and laid to rest in Edwinstowe (Edwin’s resting place). His head was later moved to York and his body to Whitby. A cult of Edwin seems to have developed in the area and there is a suggestion that the Church in Edwinstowe is built on an alignment with the sunrise on St Edwin’s Day (12 th October). 6. Russian Log Cabin. It stood from 1880 until 1954. Erected by the Duke of Portland, and constructed without nails it was used as a hunting lodge for VIP guests of the Duke, with several crowned heads of Europe, including Archduke Ferdinand, amongst them. It is said that Ferdinand had a lucky escape when one of the bailiffs dropped the Archduke’s shotgun and the resulting buckshot just missed him. A year later he was shot in Sarajevo! In 1942 the lodge was commandeered by the military and used as the Officers mess, at the end of the war it was in a very poor state and was demolished in the 1954. Some members present can remember it! 7. Two Ancient Oaks. Two dead Oak Trees near Hanger Hill. One of them has a box in it. This was part of the management of the woodland employed by the Earl of Manvers, who saw no value in the ancient oak trees. The box was used to place a fire inside the tree and to burn it down! The landed gentry don’t change do they. The other tree is reputed to be the oldest tree in the parish of Warsop as described in the 1816 Perambulation of the Manor of Warsop. 8. Robin Hoods Larder - Or the Shambles Oak near to the Russian Log Cabin. Legend has it that Robin Hood stored his venison in the hollow centre of the tree. The tree was held together with iron bands until it finally fell over in the 1960’s. The timber was used to make mementos and sold to tourists. Rumour has it that there were far more wooden momentos than timber from the tree. All that is left of the tree is a stump and the iron bands laying there. Steve mentioned the Greendale Oak of Welbeck Abbey Park. In the Birklands there are oaks grown from acorns of the Greendale Oak. Unemployed framework knitters from Mansfield Woodhouse were used to dig the trenches and ridges for planting the acorns. This was a suitable time to take a Tea, Coffee and biscuit break. 9. Stonework Culvert. Situated near the River Meden close to the Budby Road this culvert is part of the 4 th Duke of Portland’s water meadows scheme. The Duke was an important agricultural innovator and had the water meadows constructed to provide winter and spring feed for the large number of sheep needed to fertilise over 1000 acres of arable land. Water meadows are a sustainable form of agriculture, they integrate soil and water management to irrigate grass and trigger growth by providing an even flow of water across the field, which would warm the grass, protect it from frost and flush the roots with nutrients. The Duke constructed several of these not only here but in Mansfield Woodhouse, at Cuckney and on the Thoresby Estate. Kings Mill reservoir was constructed at the same time to provide water during the summer months. 10. Hanger Hill Drive – also known as Lady Anne’s Drive. Created by the Duke of Portland as a ride from Welbeck Abbey to the Russian Log Cabin, it was originally lined with Lime Trees, now much overgrown. 11. Queens Drive. A straight ride from Birklands all the way to Edwinstowe, paid for by Queen Anne. The felled timber was used at Clumber Park to build fencing to contain the deer in an enclosed Deer Park to prevent them from damaging crops. 12. Near Hanger Hill an interesting hole. Not just a hole but surrounded by a raised banking to form a saw pit. Before the days of tractors and machines it was impossible to transport a massive tree. So there was a need to saw the tree into planks in situ for easier transportation, hence the construction of a saw pit around the felled tree. Two men would cut the tree up, one standing on top, “Top Dog” and one underneath “Under Dog”. The underdog would be covered in sawdust etc. 13. 7 Boundary Stones. These stones are made of local magnesium limestone and marked with a ‘W’ for Warsop or ‘E’ for Edwinstowe. It was important to know the limits of the parish because in the days before the welfare state it was the Parish’s responsibility to care for any parishioners that had fallen on hard times, so you didn’t want anyone living in another parish claiming from you! 14. 2 Stones One of the stones is known as the ‘Budby Forest’ Stone and the other is a smaller similar stone, both are markers on the Budby/Warsop Parish boundary and have been known to be in situ for over 300 years. These are not local stone; they are possibly from the Bolsover area in Derbyshire.