THE glazed pie, still warm from the oven, packed with all the food of the forest - venison, partridge, pheasant and hare.

Dipping into the rich gravy, I was reminded of a time when this feast would have been food that was truly fit for a villain.

Not your ordinary bad boy, you understand, but Britain's most celebrated outlaw, Robin Hood.

And here was I, tucking into a dish that would have graced his table at the pretty village of Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire.

Here, Robin is alleged to have married his sweetheart Maid Marian in the ancient St Mary's Church.

But despite spending a week in this fascinating and understated tourist destination, I still haven't unscrambled the evidence to prove whether the colourful stories surrounding Robin and his merry men really are fact or fiction.

Tradition says that Robin was active in the 1170s during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart. Less than 100 years later the stories of his exploits had boosted him to new heights ... although there is no reference to him ever being caught.

By the 1400s he was such an heroic legend that his name was woven into plays by touring companies.

And he is kept very much alive today at annual May festivals across Nottinghamshire, when he is portrayed as the mystical, if slightly mischievous, Green Man, a woodland spirit.

Now the county council are inviting tourists to rediscover one of the region's most beguiling attractions, Sherwood Forest. But as I found, the forest is far from simply being the former playground for Robin's exploits.

It offers a magical mix of myth, history and conservation. In medieval times, when its noble trees and vegetation covered a third of the county, sprawling from Nottingham to Worksop, it was used by many of England's kings for hunting.

In fact Richard III was hunting in the forest when he heard that Henry Tudor had landed. He then rode south to meet his death at the Battle of Bosworth.

Today the area is recognised as being of environmental importance. One of the key factors making it a site of special scientific interest must be the 900 ancient trees that are well over 600 years old.

It was here that I ventured to study the strange, almost prehistoric shapes of the giant oaks.

The most impressive sight has to be The Major Oak, which experts estimate is at least 800 years old. It weighs up to 23 tons and has a 33ft (10m) girth. It is also purported to have been one of Robin's favourite hiding places.

A few miles away, in the village of Wellow, I had a pint at the friendly Olde Red Lion Hotel, which also dates back to Robin's time.

The village is the site of one of the last remaining maypoles in England and locals celebrate with a weekend of dancing, entertainment and drinking.

Later I visited Southwell Minster, one of the few complete buildings to survive from the time of the Norman Conquest. And, here again, the legend surrounding Robin was to reappear in the Chapter House.

Among carefully crafted carvings of foliage you can clearly see a man's face, enmeshed in greenery and spouting leaves from his mouth.

Historians speculate about the outlaw's links to these works in stone but perhaps the real answers still lie hidden in those dark forest glades in the middle of Sherwood.

Factfile

Brochures available on Robin Hood, local history and other attractions. Call Experience Nottinghamshire on: 0115 915 9231.