Everyone is familiar with the tales of Robin Hood, but at the last meeting of the East Leake & District Local History Society Adrian Grey gave members an illuminating talk about the Top Ten Scandals of Sherwood Forest – and none involving the men dressed in green.
The Dukeries was an area of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats – large estates with grand houses. He told the tale of ten scandals – social, moral, and economic – involving money, mistresses, and even the disinterment of a corpse! Surprisingly however his Number 1 scandal involved the Forest itself. Sherwood Forest was once the hunting ground of the kings of England, but over the centuries many of the local landowners surreptitiously acquired large areas of forest for their own use. As a result Sherwood Forest shrank to a fraction of its former size. 
The next History Society meeting will be on Wednesday 21st December at 7.30 p.m. in St. Mary’s Church, when the talk is “All About Playing Cards”, covering the history, mystery, facts and myths, including an overview of where the cards we play with today originated, how Duty was once charged on playing cards, and where the Joker came from.
There will be a tabletop display of unusual playing cards and a few card tricks as well! We look forward to seeing our members, and visitors are very welcome too, so do come along. Mince pies as an added extra.
For more information about the Society or our programme of future talks contact [email protected], tel. 01509 853246.