According to a new theory about Robin Hood the origins of Maid Marian in the stories come not from French stories (as I'd previously heard), nor from the need to temper Our Hero living in the woods with a group of men, but from Robin's deeply pious and religious nature.
As seen in John Holmes piece on BBC1 TV's East Midlands Today last night (clip available here for the next week) Robin prayed to both St. Mary and St. Ann – and to avoid any confusion or suggestion of anything inappropriate the two 'women' in his life were combined into one – and thus the Maid Marian was created. I have no idea how true this theory is, but I do like the lovely image they included of me with two Sals!
A week or so ago – luckily on one of the few sunny days we've had recently – Sal and I went off to Sherwood Forest and Edwinstowe to do some filming for this piece (and for some other projects and 'library shots' too) so we went hunting and shooting'in the woods and even 'got married' at the beautiful St. Mary's Church in Edwinstowe, the very same church where the real Robin and Marian are traditionally believed to have been married. The service was performed by the thoroughly excellent Rev. Canon Tony Evans and we all had great fun going through he motions two or three times for different shots – especially the 'kissing the bride' ones!
(Photos courtesy of BBC TV and reproduced with thanks).
I'm extremely proud to announce the launch of LEGENDS OF NOTTINGHAM Ltd., a brand new company dedicated to providing Nottingham with the highest quality flagship medieval banquets possible at one of the city's most prestigious venues, The Belgrave Rooms.
Even better, the company has been formed with the express purpose of not only providing the best quality, professional banquets available but also of giving back to the community too – even month we will be raising money for specific local charities as well as donating a percentage of the profits too – we want to ensure that as well as providing fun we're doing something worthwhile too – and proving that the spirit of Robin Hood is alive and well even in the 21st century!
Check out the website link above and see what we're up to in future… but if you've missed the fun of the old banquets in Nottingham (like the old Sheriff's Lodge, where many of our cast cut their banqueting teeth) then you'll love the Legends of Nottingham, and we'd love to see you!
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Well, after not updating here for far too long (something I'll retroactively sort quite soon I hope) I've also taken the plunge and entered the world of Twitter to spread the good word about what's going on in the world of Nottingham's Robin Hood… so coming soon: updates on Nottingham's Christmas Light turn-on, opening the annual Market Square Ice Rink and (Shhh!!!) something to do with a Major International Sporting Event next year…
Find out more by checking Twitter @RobinHoodTim
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Here's a great clip from Australian TV Channel 9's 'Getaway' holiday programme special 'Getaway at the Movies' with me as Robin Hood in a desperate fight to the death (well, nearly)! The show featured several movie-themed holidays including James Bond trips to London and, of course, Sherwood Forest breaks too… I did two days of filming for the short sequences you can see here; the scariest bit was shooting the arrow directly into the tree between Jules (the presenter) and Dave the forest ranger. It had to be a birch tree, they were very protective of the oaks (which is a good thing, obviously)!
And of course in true Robin Hood movie style we make it look like you can walk from Sherwood Forest to The Trip to Jerusalem Inn in seconds, just like it was Dover to Hadrian's Wall…
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Today I spent a fabulous time helping (literally) launch the new Nottinghamshire flag, designed and chosen by the public from a idea originally aired by BBC Radio Nottingham's Andy Whittaker.
As well as Andy and myself was the excellent Corporal Derby, the regimental mascot of the Mercian Regiment and his handlers – you may recall I had fun with the then Private Derby (congratulations on his promotion too) a while ago on the tram, big wheel and ice rink in Nottingham!
Also there were Cllr. Jeannie Packer and her husband Norman who had arranged a trip for us all and many other VIP guests aboard the Trent Lady river cruiser, a two hour trip up and down the Trent in perfect weather, thankfully!
You can read about the creation of the flag here. Pictures by and used with kind permission of Julie-Marie Green of Designcat Photography.
It's been a weird 2011 so far, lots of odd stuff going on behind the scenes in the Robin Hood world but some of it has been as fun as ever – which is a good and great thing!
Yet again Sal and I were invited to represent the City in the annual St. George's Day parade, a huge march led by the legendary Saint himself from the Forest Recreation ground through Nottingham into the Old Market Square where there were loads of festivities, fun, re-enactments and (thankfully) drinks too – it was a scorchingly hot day!
And there were loads of people there too, from toddlers to pensioners and from all over the world too. We were filmed for TV news, student projects and a documentary about Robin Hood and interviewed for radio news and a project by Chinese students explaining the idea of St George's Day to the folks back home – all very inclusive and exactly what the day should be about, being proud of England and welcoming everyone to our great city with open arms!
Pictures by and used with kind permission of Julie-Marie Green of Designcat Photography.
Ah, St. Patrick's Day… it's always something to look forward to in any city, but this year in Nottingham the day, weather and parade excelled itself!
Sal and I were there as Robin and Marian and along with a host of other paraders (including schoolchildren from all over the county, bands and even an Irish cottage on wheels(!) we travelled across Nottingham to the Old Market Square where there were activities, entertainments and lots of fun – and yes, there was Guinness too!
We also got to meet and have our picture taken with 'The King of the Leprechauns' as you can see, a fine and dandy fellow who was nowhere near as tricksy as legends would have it – in fact he was as happy and merry as everyone else on the day.
Still, I do wonder… if I'd held onto him would I have found a pot of gold?
Picture by and used with kind permission of Julie-Marie Green of Designcat Photography.
Last night LIGHT NIGHT returned to Nottingham City Centre, a festival of all that's best in the city after dark and a chance for everyone to experience all that it has to offer with additional music, entertainment and a dazzling array of light-themed displays city-wide.
I was at Nottingham Castle, welcoming a huge amount of people to the childrens concerts, light sculptures and other events going on in the grounds, just outside the walls were covered in projections made live by people using digitised drawing pads. Also by the Castle were my good friends What A Palaver!! performing their fire-breathing act in what can only be described as a nightmare, freezing wind-tunnel. Everyone seemed really happy despite the cold though and you can see some great photos from the event here (including What A Palaver!! at #3)!
I get to do some splendidly weird things as Nottingham Castle's official Robin Hood and last week I had the great pleasure of meeting New Zealand All-Black rugby star Ali Williams, who has come over to train with Nottingham Rugby Club.
When it was confirmed that Ali would be joining the club he confessed that the only people he really knew from Nottingham were 'Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham' so the real Sheriff (the ever wonderful Cllr. Penny Griggs) and I were asked to welcome him to the city at a press and TV event by Nottingham Castle's world-famous Robin Hood statue on a really cold and rainy morning.
It was great to meet Ali though, he's a great chap who was very enthusiastic and friendly – but seemed quite shocked by how cold and miserable it was. And he's huge, towering above me (and especially the Sheriff) as well as quite used to all the physical rigours of world-class rugby so I'm pretty sure if he ever decides to quit that life and become a bona fide outlaw he'd make a great Little John!
You can read the Nottingham Evening Post article about it here and see the BBC TV news report here.
Pictures by and used with kind permission of Julie-Marie Green of Designcat Photography.
Good news on the medieval banqueting front for 2011; it seems that happily the splendid folks at Center Parcs Sherwood have decided not only to carry on with their Robin Hood Sherwood Feast banquets but also to increase the number of them! Over the summer we'll be doing two a week instead of the normal one, something we've been hoping for for some time.
We had our first banquet of the year on January 2nd and yet again it was great fun, it's always nice to meet guests who came along to the show as children and are now bringing their own to see us – although it does mean we've probably been doing it for longer than we'd sometimes care to mention!
