Bart Bear's Blog

Yesterday the Oldies took me to see the new Robin Hood movie. Robin Hood is one of my heroes, up there with Captain Cook and Smithy. Although the critics have been a bit negative about the movie, I thought it was great. None of this squeaky-clean men-in-tights thing, but real 13th century grimy reality; it was a tough and dangerous time to be alive. I didn't even mind the way that history was twisted for the sake of the plot, it is a story about a (possibly) mythical hero after all. One thing that I noticed was the trees. The "greenwood" is ever so different to Australian forests. The Oldies knew that, of course, because they saw what remains of some English and French forests while they were on their big trip overseas. Mind you, most of the "forests" are pretty tame now, very little wildwood left anywhere it seems. The photos are actually of trees in the parklands around castles, but the trees are the same as Robin and his men would have been living among. The most important type is the one in the central image. It is a yew tree. Yew wood is what Robin Hood's bow, and all of the famous English longbows, were made from. They are also trees with character, and they look like something a small bear could easily climb.

Labels: England, heroes