ABSTRACT
Cultural tourism in the rural English countryside of north Nottinghamshire centres on two contrasting narratives, both of which can be deconstructed to varying degrees into elements of myth, legend, history and heritage. The story of ‘Robin Hood’ drew in the crowds recently, as it has done many times in the past, to a series of heritage tourism events held in conjunction with the release of an eponymous Hollywood blockbuster in May 2010 (Scott 2010). As a counterpoint, the region has been promoted as the original home of the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’, a group of early colonists who settled in North America and became of great significance to the history of the origins of the United States of America. The Pilgrims’ narrative attracts a more consciously self-selecting and targeted touristic group from across the United States, but as a story this is far less popularly understood among the local population.
