England 2025- Crewell Crags and Anxiety

That morning I made a tragic mistake at the service station when I chose a muffin that really was a piece of cake masquerading as a breakfast item. I took 2 bites and couldn’t stomach the rest so early in the morning, so I wrapped it up and put it in the pocket of the door to be forgotten until it was time to return the rental car. Wales was now in our rear view and we headed for the very familiar territory of the M5, skirting Birmingham on our way to Yorkshire and the family that waited beyond.

On our way to Welbeck Estate

My husband’s family have a complicated history and an even more complicated dynamic. Being with my husband for nearly 26 years now I’m an old pro at navigating this family dynamic but early on it was confusing and hard for me to keep track of who was speaking to whom and who could be invited to things and who couldn’t. There are no big family dinners in this group so we have a lot of little meet ups with either small groups or individual hangouts. This makes it hard for us to fit in seeing everyone. Thankfully Daniel’s brother and sister are thick as thieves so when it comes to his siblings we can do a big group hang out. They are also the least complicated of his relationships and therefore the most fun hangouts. I look forward to seeing my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law and his two girls each time we visit. 

I’m grateful that all of us have a similar idea of fun so when my brother-in-law suggested we meet up at the Welbeck Estate to explore the prehistoric Creswell Crags we were delighted. This is my moment to say that the Creswell Crags are located in the Sherwood Forest. Yes, that Sherwood Forest. I must admit I take that for granted now. The first time we drove past Sherwood Forest I kind of lost my mind. I forgot that it wasn’t merely a Robin Hood legend but a real, genuine place. So, there we were heading straight to Sherwood Forest and a little tiny piece of legend. 

The Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge full of caves and caverns occupied by Neanderthals and modern humans during the Last Glacial Period ranging from 10,000 to 60,000 years ago. Robin Hood is not the star of this particular show, although there is a cave named after him- he gets relegated to the background of this particular part of Sherwood Forest. 

I didn’t know any of the history of this site as we rolled up to the large car park. All we knew is we were ready to stretch our legs and hopefully get a beverage. Back in California a 3 hour drive is not uncommon nor is it particularly long, but in England a 3 hour drive can feel arduous, even if the motorway is involved and you’re able to go high speeds. Roads are narrow, traffic is heavy- there is so much to pay attention to! If we were there for longer we could probably relax into driving in the UK but the short periods we are there means our brains are always switched on and you don’t realize how tense you are in unfamiliar territory until you park and finally let your guard down.

We arrived at our destination earlier than we planned so we spent that extra time stretching and to be honest, going into flight or fight mode. As I mentioned earlier, the family dynamics with this group are complicated and there was supposed to be an extra member of our party that day that hadn’t been included previously. The anxiety was high and the anticipation was starting to get the better of us both. I reacted to the stress of the situation by fidgeting and talking to fill the empty space. Daniel on the other hand was responding to the same anxiety by being aloof and frankly a prickly pear. We were not a good pair in that moment. 

When his sister finally pulled into the car park some of the tension eased but a new situation had arisen. His sister, who was supposed to have said relative with her, arrived alone. We quickly deduced that a miscommunication had happened and instead of resolving it with a quick text message earlier that day, everyone just made assumptions (incorrect ones I might add) and here we were. The immediate anxiety lifted but a new one now taking its place. This highly anticipated meetup would now be put off to who knows when. A new shadow formed on the horizon. Something to be filed away and dealt with another day. 

My brother-in-law finally arrived and with him the sunshine that is our English nieces. No longer needing the adrenaline that had been coursing through our veins, the comedown was quick and was replaced immediately with the calm of familiarity. It’s hard to stay keyed up when the unbounded joy of unbothered kids comes literally skipping towards you. Those girls are on the precipice of being jaded teenagers but for now they’re still happy to hang out with the adults of the family. 

It had been 2 years since we had seen everyone and while the adults all basically looked the same the girls had grown even taller and a little bit more like the adults they’ll one day be. We set off immediately on one of the many walking paths that run through the Welbeck Estate. My brother-in-law is very familiar with the Estate and it would become clear as the day went on that he chose this specific place for a meet up because he wanted to shop the Farm Shop. 

The cafe at Welbeck Estate (*not my photo)

The farm shop as seen from the car park (*not my photo)

The gift shop at Welbeck Estate (*not my photo)

On this particular day it was discovered that my sister in law and I have both officially reached the birdwatching stage of aging. Daniel and I had a brief birdwatching phase in our late 20’s that included binoculars and a small moleskin notebook. Now birdwatching included apps to help identify birds by sight or sound. My sister in law and I were wandering around independently of each other, both of us holding our phones out to capture the birdsong around us. At some point we both realized we were doing the same thing with the same app! This was our chance to test out whether the app was truly correct. I’m happy to report we got the exact same birdsong results. I can now officially say I have heard an Eurasian Coot. 

The birds we heard at Creswell Crags. (Location listed as Worksop but that’s just the closest large town)

The boys wandered off in one direction, my sister in law and I chasing birds in the other and the girls exploring the paths to the closed caves. Eventually we all found ourselves on the same path that lead to the cafe. All roads lead to the cafe when we’re all together. 

As we made our way back to our cars we stopped by the Farm Shop where were bought lots of local goodies to bring home as gifts and also for us to try. This was a good way to kick off our week in and around the area my husband grew up in. We said our goodbyes, knowing we would see everyone again over the coming days. 

Crimson Clover field on the side of the trail

It was now time for us to embark on our short journey to our unique airbnb. The introduction of said airbnb will have to wait, as it deserves its very own post. I will close this post with saying- if you ever have the option of drinking a hot beverage in a cafe in Sherwood Forest do it!