South yorkshire forest

[BHRemovals]

Just before the Parkway exit of the M1 there is a big sign saying "The South Yorkshire Forest" what exactly is this ?

[Robin-H]

A quick google search of 'South Yorkshire Forest' came up with this..

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Yorkshire_Forest

 

So probably that?

[BHRemovals]

Thanks for that Robin, I thought they where trying to call that clump of trees a forest.

[Robin-H]

Thanks for that Robin, I thought they where trying to call that clump of trees a forest.

 

Not technically relevant to this situation, as the South Yorkshire Forest is apparently pretty recent, but in the UK traditionally a 'forest' was just an area where Royal hunting took place, so does not need to mean somewhere with lots of tree cover.

 

The term forest in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the original medieval sense was closer to the modern idea of a "preserve" — i.e. land legally set aside for specific purposes such as royal hunting — with less emphasis on its composition.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_forest

[BHRemovals]

That's interesting and I'm sure most people don't know that, for example I want to visit the Black forest next year but I suppose it could be a treeless plain in Germany where they hunted Deer.

[Robin-H]

That's interesting and I'm sure most people don't know that, for example I want to visit the Black forest next year but I suppose it could be a treeless plain in Germany where they hunted Deer.

 

Don't worry I think the Black Forest has plenty of trees.. I'm not sure if the same usage of 'forest' applied in Germany.

 

It did refer however to places like Sherwood Forest and Rockingham Forest. They were both a lot more wooded than today, but not the huge expanse of trees that some people might imagine.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

And Leicester Forest East: despite the M1 services' name, I'm unaware of any Leicester Forest West.