Ashfield keeps getting mentioned on BBC One's new drama Sherwood. That's because it focuses on two unlinked murders and is set in the village of Annesley Woodhouse, in the district of Ashfield, in 2004.
The show is fictional but is inspired in part by two murders that took place in Nottinghamshire, which is where writer James Graham grew up.
The first episode of the six-part drama aired on BBC One on Monday (June 13) night at 9pm, with the next episode airing at the same time on Tuesday (June 14) night. The show features Joanne Froggatt, David Morrissey and Lesley Manville among others.
The first episode went down well on social media, but some fans were not happy at Nottingham Forest being referred to 'Notts Forest' in the programme. James Graham took to Twitter to apologise for the backlash it caused.
With the show mentioning Ashfield so much throughout, and it being focused on murders that happened in a village in the area, here's everything you need to know about the district.
Where is Ashfield?
Ashfield is a local government district in Western Nottinghamshire. As of 2018, the population of the district was around 127,000. It was formed in April 1974.
Towns and villages in Ashfield
- Annesley
- Annesley Woodhouse
- Hucknall
- Huthwaite
- Jacksdale
- Kirkby-in-Ashfield
- Selston
- Skegby
- Sutton-in-Ashfield
- Stanton Hill
- Teversal
- Underwood
Political makeup of Ashfield
Lee Anderson is the MP for Ashfield, has held the position since he was elected in December 2019 and is the area's first Conservative MP since a by-election in 1977. Mr Anderson was a Labour politician until 2018, when he defected to the Conservative party.
Mr Anderson was born in Ashfield, and attended the John Davies Primary School in Sutton-in-Ashfield and Ashfield School in Kirkby-in-Ashfield. His father was a coal miner, and he worked himself as a coal miner for 10 years.
Ashfield District Council is the local authority for the area, and is run by Ashfield Independents, of which Jason Zadrozny is the leader. Of the 34 councillors in Ashfield, 27 are Ashfield Independents, three are Conservative, two are Labour and two are independents.
The real life events:
The show has been inspired by two tragic events which both took place within weeks of each other 18 years ago.
In July of that year, Robert Boyer had shot ex-miner Keith 'Froggy' Frogson with a crossbow on his doorstep, before hacking him to death with a sword and setting fire to his home - with his victim's daughter and her husband still inside. Later that month, Terry Rodgers was living in his daughter Chanel's home in Huthwaite when he shot her four times, just weeks after her wedding.
The two killers fled into woodland near Annesley Woodhouse, both remaining at large for weeks while police tried to hunt them down. The search for Rodgers involved a team of more than 450 officers from forces across the UK, cost more than £1.5m, and led to a desperate community appeal to find him with "wanted" posters pasted to lamp-posts and in shop windows.
Rodgers eluded police for nearly three weeks after constructing a shelter in the woods and was was finally found on August 16, the day after Boyer had been discovered.
