Nothing’s Forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten... Celebrating 35 years in the forest, by J.P. Reedman #RobinOfSherwood @StoneLord1

Nothing’s Forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten.

35 years in the forest

By J.P. Reedman

I first came upon Robin of Sherwood in early 1984. I was living in Canada but had crossed over to Port Angeles in the US to visit a friend—and recover from pneumonia. On the TV was an advert for a new cable station, Showtime—and a forthcoming new series, Robin of Sherwood.

Immediately, I was captivated. This felt like MY Robin Hood. I’d loved the legend since around 5 years old, but always disliked most tv and film versions with their tights and silly caps and unrealistic swordfights. Robin of Sherwood had young actors, decent period clothing, real forests that were clearly English and real castles and abbeys instead of wobbly, fairytale sets.

Later that year, I visited England for 5 months. I kept seeing snippets on Robin in teen magazines such as JACKIE, PATCHES and BLUE JEANS. I told myself I was a bit too old to be looking at such magazines…but I went ahead anyway!

The mid-80’s was a strange time socially and culturally; a time of change and flux. There was a raised interested in the ‘New Age’, paganism and folklore that hadn’t been seen since the 60’s, but was now it was entering the mainstream, rather than being part of a ‘counter culture’. History was becoming more popular and more appreciated too, with battle re-enactments taking place and the formation of English Heritage.

Many influential books and events came into my life between 1983-1986, with Robin being one of them—there was also Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon and Sharon Penman’s Sunne in Splendour. I was still in the U.K. when Lindow Man, a preserved Iron Age body, was found in Lindow Moss, at Lammas, 1984, strange goings around a mound in Derbyshire hit the press, and the following year was the 500^th Anniversary of Bosworth Field.   ROS was part of that time, with its positive depiction of paganism and use of mysticism mixed with actual history; the myth of the Divine King who dies for the land mixed that of the merry trickster of the forest.

When I returned to Canada, I was frustrated. I really wanted to see all the series but it had not aired there. Videos of it would not be released for several years. Fate played its hand. I met my friend Dianne, who had ‘camera copies ‘of ALL the episodes (a camera copy was a shaky horror filmed from the TV with a video camera!) She also introduced me to fandom…and fanzines! At first, I resisted any organised fan-stuff but in May 1989 I went, with great nervousness, to my first convention in Seattle, with Michael Praed, Ray Winstone and Mark Ryan attending. And I was hooked. Totally. Within a short time, I was sending out fanfics and doing my own zine.

Michael Praed.

Terry Walsh, Phil Rose and Robert Addie.

Phil Rose and Judi Trott

Several years later, Michael Praed appeared in ‘Carousel’ in Dublin. Artist Frances Quinn kindly invited me to stay and I had a blast. I will forever have fond memories of the Tivoli Theatre and the little pub over the road…

In 1992 I moved to the UK permanently and soon found out how popular ROS was still. Soon I was in talks regarding a convention—Albion. It was there I met my future partner, Dan, who was sitting directly across the table from me. A few years later, I was on the committee for a new convention, SILVER ARROW, which had something a bit different at the time—a location trip! We visited forests and castles by coach. We nearly had a disaster the first year when the party got lost, went off the track and climbed a massive hill muddy from the previous night’s rainfall. People were covered in mud—but thankfully, everyone survived. Some said that was their favourite bit!

series creator Kip Carpenter with myself and Dan (on right.)

Our last Silver Arrow took place in 2003. Several of the cast members had sadly passed away and we felt we could not continue to come up with new ideas. Over the years we had guests such as Michael Praed, Judi Trott, Robert Addie, Phil Rose, Nikolas Grace, series creator Richard Carpenter and wife Annabel Lee, Jeremy and Robbie Bulloch, Stuart Linden, Esta Charkham, and Anthony Valentine, and we had taken fans to visit Leigh and Blaise Woods, Chepstow and Farleigh Hungerford castles, Black Rock in Cheddar and Wells Cathedral. It was time to pass on the torch.

My interest in the series and the legend remains, however, and I am still in touch with some of the cast. My years of writing fanfic was invaluable practice for my other later original works; you would get feedback, and yes, fans WOULD definitely tell you if you ‘got it wrong’! While Dan and I don’t do fandom ‘activities’ these days, we still collect props and other memorabilia from the series—we have enough items to start our own Robin of Sherwood Museum (I wish!), including Michael’s costume, Robert’s armour and the sword Orias! My most treasured possessions.

The day in the 80’s when I heard the words ‘When the Hooded Man Comes to the Forest, There to Meet with Herne the Hunter, and Be his Son and Do His Bidding…’ was also the beginning of a great, ongoing adventure in Sherwood for me…

J.P. Reedman

Links to my Robin of Sherwood-inspired series, THE HOOD GAME:

HOOD GAME ROBIN HOOD SERIES

Celebrate 35 years of Robin of Sherwood with Historical Fiction author and #RobinofSherwood audio script writer — Jennifer Ash @JenAshHistory

Nothing’s forgotten. Nothing is ever Forgotten.

35 years of Robin of Sherwood

 Robin Hood Dreaming

By Jennifer Ash (Jenny Kane)

At the age of fourteen I fell in love. This was no teenage crush on a boy from school or a singer or film star. I had fallen for Robin Hood. Any Robin Hood. (Apart from Russell Crowe – there are limits).

This intense interest in a man of legend began when I watched the hit ITV series Robin of Sherwood, back in the 1980’s.  Within an hour of seeing my first episode I was digging through my parent’s study for a book on myths and legends. From that moment on I was, unbeknown to me, setting the course for the rest of my life.

Four years later, having read every text book and story book on Robin Hood I could find, I studied archaeology and medieval history at university, and then went on to complete a doctorate on the comparison between real medieval crimes and those described in fourteenth century literature.

The earliest mention found (to date) of the name Robin Hood in literature appears in the poem The Vision of Piers Plowman; written by William Langland in c.1377. This was a long protest poem complaining about the harsh conditions endured by the poor in the Fourteenth Century. Not only did it mention Robin Hood, but it also makes reference to a real criminal gang; the Folville family.

“And some ryde and to recovere that unrightfully was wonne:

He wised hem wynne it ayein wightnesses of handes,

And fecchen it from false men with Folvyles lawes.”

It is this family, the Folvilles from Leicestershire, who were to become the catalyst for the novels written under my third the pen name, Jennifer Ash. In 1310, John de Folville, Lord of Ashby Folville, died, leaving his widow Alice and seven sons. The eldest son, also John, inherited the Ashby-Folville manor. He had six brothers; Eustace, Laurence, Richard, Robert, Thomas and Walter, who formed a notorious gang. Between the mid 1320’s and 1330’s, the Folville brothers ran the town of Ashby-Folville and its surrounds as a base for criminal activity.

The first crime that brought the Folvilles to the notice of the authorities was the murder of the Baron of the Exchequer, Roger Belers. Over the following decade, the Folville brothers’ travelled the countryside assaulting those they considered deserving of such treatment, and holding people and places to ransom. They hired themselves out as mercenaries, willing to commit crimes for the right price. In fact, if you look closely enough at the criminal activities of the Folville family and the Robin Hood ballads, you’ll see a great number of similarities. So many in fact, that I began to wonder if the ballad writers had been influenced by the actions of Folvilles or if Folvilles had been influenced by the popularity of the ballads.

It was this latter theory that formed the inspiration behind The Folville Chronicles (The Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw and Edward’s Outlaw). This series of medieval murder mysteries shows Robert de Folville and his brothers using the ballads of Robin and his outlaws as a code of behaviour. Be warned however- this isn’t the code of behaviour we associate with Robin Hood today. There’s no robbing the rich to give to the poor. The ballads were all about punishing the greedy, lazy and the cruel. There was never any question of money gained from their felonies being given away.

Perhaps it was inevitable that this research, combined with my love for the stories of Robin Hood, would inspire my novels. However, it took several years of writing romantic comedies before I was brave enough to use my medieval research in fiction. When I finally did, I was rather sneaky about it.

I’d had some measure of success as Jenny Kane, and so changing genres was a big step. Rather than leap in, I decided to write a contemporary novel about a medieval lecturer called Grace Harper, who’s so obsessed with Robin Hood that real life is passing her by. Split in half, Romancing Robin Hood tells Grace’s story, as well as the story of Mathilda of Twyford- a nineteen year old potter’s daughter who has the misfortune to cross the Folvilles.

When you’re in love with a man of legend, how can anyone else match up?

Dr Grace Harper has loved the stories of Robin Hood ever since she first saw them on TV as a teenager. Now, with her fortieth birthday just around the corner, she’s a successful academic in Medieval History—but Grace is stuck in a rut.

Grace is supposed to be writing a textbook on a real-life medieval criminal gang—the Folvilles—but instead she is captivated by a novel she’s secretly writing. A medieval mystery which entwines the story of Folvilles with her long-time love of Robin Hood—and a feisty young woman named Mathilda of Twyford.

Just as she is trying to work out how Mathilda can survive being kidnapped by the Folvilles, Grace’s best friend Daisy announces she is getting married. After a whirlwind romance with a man she loves as much as the creatures in her animal shelter, Daisy has press-ganged Grace into being her bridesmaid.

Witnessing Daisy’s new-found happiness, Grace starts to re-evaluate her own life. Is her devotion to a man who may or may not have lived hundreds of years ago really a substitute for a real-life hero of her own? Grace’s life doesn’t get any easier when she meets Dr Robert Franks—a rival academic who she is determined to dislike but finds herself being increasingly drawn to… If only he didn’t know quite so much about Robin Hood.

Suddenly, spending more time living in the past than the present doesn’t seem such a good idea...

Such was the popularity of the medieval part of the novel that it led to the writing of the aforementioned Folville Chronicles. (The Outlaw’s Ransom is taken directly from Mathilda’s story in Romancing Robin Hood.)

As luck would have it- the modern part of the story was also popular. In fact, it led to a small miracle. Thirty years after Robin of Sherwood finished on television, the cast are back together making audio versions of the series. Having come across Romancing Robin Hood, the audio series creators invited me to write four scripts for Michal Praed, Jason Connery and the rest of the team to read. I honestly can’t believe my luck! I never dreamt that a teenage obsession would become the inspiration for so much of my adult writing life.

Find out more about Jennifer Ash’s books:

Romancing Robin Hood

The Folville Chronicles

The Outlaw’s Ransom

The Winter Outlaw

Edward’s Outlaw

Jennifer Ash (Jenny Kane)

Influenced by a lifelong love of Robin Hood and medieval ballad literature, Jennifer wrote The Folvilles Chronicles: The Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw and Edward’s Outlaw (LittwitzPress, 2017- 2018). The fourth novel in this historical murder mystery series will be published in 2020.

Jennifer also writes as Jenny Kane. Her work includes the romantic comedies, Romancing Robin Hood (2^nd edition, Littwitz Press, 2018), Abi’s Neighbour (Accent Press, 2017), Another Glass of Champagne (Accent Press, 2016), and the bestsellers, Abi’s House (Accent Press, June 2015), and Another Cup of Coffee (Accent Press, 2013).

All of Jennifer and Jenny Kane’s news can be found at

Connect with Jennifer: Website • Twitter • Facebook • BookBub • Goodreads