May Day celebrations in Sherwood Forest

A return visit to the Milestones site, so I can get to Sherwood Forest the next day for the May Day celebrations. Paul and Sue were there, and Paul was dancing with the troupe, introduced by Friar Tuck (!). 

I had a quick tramp over to the Mighty Oak - the forest was much nicer than I remembered, and it was quite busy on the main paths. 

That night we were all at Milestones and after a visit to the brewery bar next door, I hosted dinner in my van, including my disastrous pudding - it was supposed to be tiramisu but..... I'd picked up rice pudding instead of custard, whiskey instead of brandy, and had no grater for the chocolate. And I'd chucked in some raspberries for some reason. But it did have sponge fingers. 

In the morning we took a short stroll round the site, and then headed home.

Slingsby and Castle Howard

I headed for the CCC Slingsby site, not very far away. On the way I drove through the Castle Howard estate, and turned in to the Yorkshire Arboretum. It has a red squirrel enclosure, but sadly they were all tucked up in their dreys. 

I went on the organised tour which added some history about the project, and pointed out some of the trees you would otherwise overlook. Then explored the rest of the site, which is very pretty.

Then it was back to the visitor centre for a lovely lunch with peacocks.

The weather turned the next day, and the PLAN was to take £2 busses around to Malton and Pickering, but the first bus didn't show up and so the whole plan fell through. THANK YOU Arriva. I had a quick look round the village, but didn't fancy one of the many walks because it was raining and cold. So I spend the whole day in the van :-(