Today was our last day in the English countryside. We went looking for the Sherwood Forest and all we found was a car park. Not really, but there is a funny story in there somewhere, Actually, we drove to Nottingham today to visit the home of Games Workshop Ltd. the makers of Warhammer and other miniatures games. I had high expectations and the visit did not disappoint.
We knew we had arrived when we came across this Rhino APC tank in the parking lot.
We started with a late lunch (or low tea) at Bugman’s the on premise pub. The foot was actually not bad and it looked like the company’s corporate employees also used Bugman’s for a lunch hangout and casual meeting spot too. After a pint we headed into the gaming room to look around. There were more tables here to play on than at the large Sacramento store, Great Escape Games. Even the most poorly decorated tables here would rival the best terrain back home, and the best tables here were masterpieces.
After a tour of the gaming space I made my way to the store to buy a few things for a friend back home. This is the only physical store that stocks some of the specialty items made by Forgeworld. They also stock just about every model the company makes, so you can see everything there in the store.
I was feeling a bit disappointed that the display cases didn’t have as many models as I had expected. We were getting ready to walk out when Layla came running up to me to tell me I had to come follow her. I headed up the stairs to the third floor and walked in on this view, the hall of miniatures.
Inside the glass cases on the three walls was every miniature made, painted at amazing levels. In the middle of the room is a display case housing a huge scene of the assault on a fortress. This made my day.
After leaving Games Workshop we went to do some laundry in Nottingham, downtown, and then went to the cinema to catch Man of Steel. Not only did Layla do okay, but she really seemed to like it. It thought it was a fantastic movie. Upon leaving the movie, about 9pm, we went looking for a coffee shop. Evidently, the Brits don’t drink coffee late, as none could be found still open. We had to settle for gas station coffee; still better than the garbage served at the Hampton Inn.
On the way back to the hotel we mused about a story my father had told us about the Sherwood forest being not more than a few trees and perhaps a parking lot, so we didn’t go looking for it. It turns out, as you can read here, that the Sherwood Forest is making a recovery. It currently has just over 1000 acres in the National Trust and has been gaining land over the past years. Oh well, perhaps we’ll see it next time.