Sad to learn yesterday that the giant oak tree, aka the Major Oak, in Sherwood Forest has died. It was over a thousand years old, its ancient and gnarled branches supported by metal struts, but apparently the hot weather finished this old link with Robin Hood. Maybe he hid in its branches when hiding from the Sheriff of Nottingham, who knows, but the tree and Robin were definitely part of my childhood lore. The four frames here are part of an early iteration of my mystery/memoir comic strip story.
As a child I watched the TV series featuring Richard Greene as Robin Hood, another early hero, and at a much later visit to the ancient oak, picked this leaf before investigating the disappointing Sherwood Forest cafe nearby. Where were the Merry Men?