From Maid Marian to the first president of the UK’s largest conservation organisation, and from ground-breaking scientists to record-breaking Olympians, inspirational women of Sherwood Forest will be celebrated as part of a weekend of events to mark International Women’s Day.
RSPB Sherwood Forest and Budby South Forest will be the venue on the weekend of 12th and 13th March for a range of events and activities highlighting achievements and lives from the Middle Ages to the present day.
A historical trail, devised by the Sherwood Forest Trust, will guide visitors through the Forest, learning more about just some of Nottinghamshire’s influential women as they go and using clues to identify them, with a prize up for grabs.
An RSPB exhibition will highlight the achievements of women who have helped to shape the Sherwood landscape or to put the area on the map through their work and influence, including the charity’s founders. There will also be appearances and talks from the RSPB’s Chief Executive Beccy Speight and Emma Marsh, Director of RSPB England.
A range of guided walks will be available over the weekend with a focus on conservation, wellbeing and, of course, a walk with the inimitable Maid Marian, led by Marian herself from the fabulous Sherwood Outlaws performing arts group. These can be booked via www.visitsherwood.co.uk.
Music, dance and performance will take place throughout the weekend, including Medieval re-enactment from The Lord Thomas Stanley Retinue, painting a picture of life in the 15th Century. Conservation workshops, fun crafts and games, and traders’ stalls will also be at the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre across both days.