Center Parcs - Sherwood Forest - 17 to 20 January 2020

 

Here are just a few pictures from our weekend sojourn at Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest.

 

We had house/chalet number 889 again, reached by foot, bike or (in Louise's case) invalid carriage, down pretty pathways and past some relatively new buildings that have resulted in the golf range being turned into a family crazy golf course.

 

 

 

On Friday night, we assembled in the sauna, and adjourned (when the beer bottles got too hot) for Gerry and Chris's excellent 'spag bol', before a 'slide show' of last year's canal trip and other stuff.

 

 

Stuart, Lyn, Louise, Gerry, Chris, Robert and Sue.

 

On Saturday morning I went on a nearby 5 km parkrun, on which I've already reported. It was a lovely morning, as I took a finishing line picture before heading back to base.

 

 

The lake was glittering in the sunshine as I walked past.

 

 

 

There's a new 'ride' in the pool area - here it is, wisely positioned just above a building that houses the medical centre.

 

 

The afternoon was spent on a variety of different courts, of which only badminton is pictured below.

 

 

 

 

Whilst most of us adjourned to table tennis, Chris struggled up a climbing wall.

 

 

Captions please?

 

 

The exercises concluded with a marathon game of floodlit tennis, in which it took Sue and Robert the entire hour to beat me and Stuart (both cripples) by 10 games to 8. Then it was back to the sauna, and a chicken meal from Louise.

 

Sunday started with an hour and a half of squash, which five of us managed to enjoy without getting too shattered.

 

Nearby, Greylag and Egyptian Geese pottered about expectantly.

 

 

 

Later, the short tennis (indoors with a soft ball on a badminton court) was interrupted by a visit to some owls.

 

Did you know that a barn owl, without its feathers, is no bigger than a blackbird?

 

 

Owls from Africa and Mexico were passed around, then the barn owl, then the European Eagle Owl pictured below.

 

 

This fine fellow can live between 30 and 40 years in the wild, and 40 to 50 years in captivity. This one is about 18 years old. They are breeding successfully in the UK, in particular on the Yorkshire Moors and in the Yorkshire Dales, according to their 'dad'.

 

 

Goulash followed more sauna, then we enjoyed 'Lyn's Log' - a documentary about a canal crew in the Stratford area.

 

Monday morning saw more table tennis, swimming, etc, before everyone hobbled away for a bit of recovery time before their next bout of exercise.