Forest Focus Summer 2017

Summer 2017

Forest Focus The magazine for Epping Forest

Prince Harry visits Epping Forest

800th anniversary of the Forest Charter

Free

Summer events Autumn 2016 Forest Focus 1

Welcome This issue’s cover story highlights HRH Prince Harry’s visit to Epping Forest to dedicate this ancient woodland to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy P14–15.

We celebrate 800 years of the Forest Charter this year. Verderer Richard Morris sheds some light on this ancient and complex piece of legislation that affected the history of Great Britain’s ancient woodlands, including Epping Forest P8–9.

With summer upon us, we once again welcome the start of our popular open air theatre season, including a wonderful adaptation of Comedy of Errors and, for the first time, a promenade production of Wind in the Willows at Chingford P13 and P21.

Head of Conservation, Jeremy Dagley, explains the importance of the Forest’s grasslands P6–7.

For those who enjoy visiting the Forest with a dog, we celebrate our four-legged friends at the annual Paws in the Forest event on Sunday 25 June 11am–4pm, which offers something of interest for all visitors, with or without a dog P21.

Why not take part in one of the many activities and events running throughout the summer months across Epping Forest? P21–24.

Clare Eastwood, Publications Officer

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Milestones within Epping Forest Ancient highway markers receive a spruce up

14–15

Prince Harry visits Epping Forest

The Forest is dedicated to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy 2 Forest Focus Autumn 2016

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Ken Hoy

The Forest loses a knowledgeable and influential figure

For further information about the City of London’s work looking after Epping Forest, please visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/eppingforest

@COLEppingForest Epping Forest City of London coleppingforest

8–9

800th anniversary of the Forest Charter

The Charter is considered by some historians to have as much importance as the Magna Carta

21–24

Summer events

Find out what is happening in Epping Forest this summer

6–7

The Forest’s grasslands

Take a closer look at these fascinating and important habitats Autumn 2016 Forest Focus 3

Why not explore some of our other open spaces?

The City of London owns and manages green spaces in and around London, including Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, Burnham Beeches, City Commons, City Gardens, City of London Cemetery and Crematorium and West Ham Park.

See our website for a full list of sites, locations and facilities. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ things-to-do/green-spaces Forest Focus is produced by The City of London Corporation.

Edited by Clare Eastwood Design by Steers McGillan Eves www.steersmcgillaneves.co.uk Print by Newnorth www.newnorth.co.uk Photographers: Peter Adams Rob Ashton Jeremy Dagley Clare Eastwood Tayla McLuskie Clive Totman James Waters Alan Woodgate Yvette Woodhouse

News in brief

Artist in residence

Epping Forest welcomes Marion Sidebottom, who has been awarded Arts Council England Funding, for her yearlong artist residency project, You Can’t See the Trees for the Woods.

Keep in touch Why not sign up to receive our email version of Forest Focus?

If you prefer to receive a printed copy in the post, please forward a cheque, along with your name and address, for £2.50 per edition or £10 for four editions. Please make cheques payable to The City of London and post to the address below. Free of charge copies are available from the Forest Visitor Centres and at many other venues in and around the Forest.

If you would like to receive a copy of Forest Focus in an alternative format, please contact us.

The project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Marion will be taking photos of our keystone trees and collecting peoples’ stories and images of the Forest’s trees for an online storybook and gallery.

Marion has a pop-up exhibition at The View on 13 and 14 July showcasing portraits of some of our important trees to coincide with the Ancient Tree Forum summer conference. www.marionsidebottom.co.uk

Cattle get to work

Epping Forest, The Warren, Loughton, Essex IG10 4RW 020 8532 1010

@COLEppingForest

epping.forest@cityoflondon.gov.uk

pping Forest E City of London

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ eppingforest

coleppingforest

The cows are now out grazing in the Forest for the summer months.

Above: Prince Harry meets Lucky and Raggamuffin, the English Longhorns.

Below: Epping Forest Cattle brands.

Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers and a Coward in London’s Great Forest We are delighted to have bestselling author, Will Ashon, visit the Forest on Sunday 2 July to sign copies of his latest new book, Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers and a Coward in London’s Great Forest.

Volunteers’ Week 2017: You make the difference 1–7 June Volunteers like Pat, along with Roxy the dog, make an exceptional contribution to the care and management of Epping Forest.

They help to shape the Forest’s future and have always played a major role in its past.

If you’re interested in volunteering with us and want to find out more, please visit our website www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ eppingforest/volunteering or give us a call on 020 8532 1010.

Based in and around Epping Forest, this book charts the less usual side of life in the Forest. A story of tangled pathways and surprising encounters, a book about getting lost, and finding oneself. In Epping Forest on the edge of London, might a writer find that magical moment of transcendence? He will certainly discover world-renowned artists and fading celebrities, robbers, lovers, ghosts and poets. But will he find himself? For further information about the book signing, please see P22.

Lucky to meet Prince Harry Lucky the Longhorn cow, who recently met Prince Harry in the Forest, was born in January 2011 and has had two heifer (young female) calves named Paprika and Raggamuffin. The Longhorn Society administers the pedigree history and registering of new animals and issues a new letter for naming females following the alphabet (2017 being ‘R’). Lucky and Raggamuffin will be grazing Forest land throughout the summer with diverse forage which the young calf will learn to eat from following her mother and passing onto her own offspring in the future.

The Charter of the Forest 1217

THE CHARTER OF THE FOREST 1217

Magna Carta (‘The Great Charter’ of 1215) contained two clauses relating to forests, but many promises made during the negotiations concerning the extent of the forests and the harsh forest laws were omitted.

The introduction of the Norman Forest system in England was hated and resented, and pressure against it led to a separate Charter being issued in November 1217.

Richard Morris, OBE £3.50

THE CHARTER OF THE FOREST 1217 ITS 800TH ANNIVERSARY AND RELEVANCE TO THE FOREST OF ESSEX

BY RICHARD MORRIS, OBE

The Charter of the Forest required the king to rein back the extent of the forests, and the severity of many of the harsh forest laws was reduced. It provided common rights for common people, and put the forest law into a legal framework, albeit still separate from the common law.

This short book explains the fight to contain the king’s arbitrary powers to create and impose harsh forest laws in the 12th and 13th centuries.

There was a royal forest in Essex by 1104, and it probably spread over most of the county at that time. By the end of the 14th century the Forest of Essex was limited to the southwest of the county and was known as Waltham Forest.

Epping Forest remains today the last fragment of the once great Forest of Essex.

To find out more about the Forest Charter, look out for Loughton Historical Societies latest publication. £ 3.50

Available from The View.

ISBN 978–1–905269–22–8

For the bookshelf Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers and a Coward in London’s Great Forest Will Ashon £14.99 Strange Labyrinth is a singular blend of landscape writing, political indignation, cultural history and wit from a startling new voice in non-fiction.

Available from The View.

LOUGHTON AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Summer 2017 Forest Focus 5

The Forest’s grasslands

6 Forest Focus Summer 2017

A grassland ablaze with Buttercups below an eggshell blue sky. It’s a summer delight that perhaps we used to take for granted. But natural, wildlife-rich grasslands are almost a feature of the past, so many have been lost from England over the last 50 years. In Essex alone, more than 98% of our meadows and pastures have been destroyed in less than a lifetime: drained, ploughed or developed.

This stark fact makes the survival of the great Royal Forests of Epping and Hatfield (and part of Hainault), with their wood-pasture mosaics of trees and grasslands, all the more significant. These wonderful ancient sites are not just notable for their extraordinary trees but they also support a large proportion of the remaining grasslands in Essex and London. For example, the southern third of Epping Forest contains more than 10% of the whole of London’s acid grasslands, which thrive, sparse and wiry, on the dry, drought-prone gravelly soils around Leyton and Wanstead.

So, take a second look at Epping Forest’s grasslands this summer, as their grasses flare into the chaotic brilliance of foxy-oranges, smouldering auburns and swaying silvery-greens. And look deeper than the surface colours, as these natural swards deserve more detailed exploration. They should be swished through slowly and be viewed at ground level. Ambling

through one will reveal an intricate patchwork of flowers changing in composition every few paces.

From short turf, star-studded with constellations of twinkling yellow tormentil, to taller areas awash with frothing white bedstraw and knee-high greenery sheltering the stunning crimson flowers of grass vetchling.

And of course, the grazed pastures of Epping Forest support more than flowers. If you wait awhile you should see flickering daytime moths, such as burnet companions and mother shiptons, looking like miniature swatches of Persian carpet.

Avoiding clumsy soldier beetles, there are dazzling small copper butterflies and fast-flying Skippers.

Woven into the fine grass fabric are the even finer silks of meadow spiders. And, all around, will be the sounds of grasshoppers.

Dr Jeremy Dagley Head of Conservation, Epping Forest

Summer 2017 Forest Focus 7

800 anniversary th

of the Charter of the Forest Two years ago there were many events celebrating the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta (‘The Great Charter’ of 1215). Although two clauses in Magna Carta refer to ‘forests’, much that had been promised in the negotiations was omitted. Subsequent pressure about the harsh forest law led to a separate charter being issued in November 1217. This Charter of the Forest is considered by historians to have as much importance as Magna Carta, certainly as far as the rights of the commoners and freemen of England were concerned.

In Anglo-Saxon times every freeman could still hunt on his own land, and it is probable that many serfs suffered no rebuke in taking game off the limitless waste. All this was to change with the arrival of William the Conqueror from Normandy. He claimed suzerainty over all the soil of England by right of conquer: accordingly the Norman kings imposed upon their English subjects an iron rule of unprecedented severity.

None of William’s innovations was more hated and resented than his application of the Norman Forest system to his English Kingdom. This involved the creation of royal forests in areas of woodland, heathland and grassland in which the king had the exclusive right to hunt deer. The areas included not only the king’s own demesne lands but lands in which the soil was owned by barons, local lords of the manor, and freeholders.

A comprehensive administrative and judicial system was set up to enforce strict laws, with severe penalties for breaking them. For example until the Charter of the Forest, the penalty for poaching ‘the king’s deer’ was hanging, although the Assize of 1198 set the penalty for killing deer as mutilation by removal of the offender’s eyes and testicles. Landowners had to seek approval from the forest authorities to make clearings and fell trees. Any illegal clearings or felling would result in the offender being brought before the forest courts and fined – an important source of income for the king.

By the time of King John’s accession to the throne in 1199, there were 69 royal forests, and it has been estimated that the legal limits within which the Forest laws applied covered one-fourth of the land of England. Initially most of Essex was declared a royal forest, but in 1204 the De Vere family and other barons in the north of the county agreed to pay the king a fine of 500 marks and five palfreys to have all the land north of Stanestreet, the old Roman road from St Albans to Colchester, disafforested, that is excluded from the forest laws.

The Hundred of Tendring was also excluded from the forest.

The barons led the protests against the scope and severity of the forest laws but, although many promises were made to reduce the areas subject to forest law, few were honoured other than when exemptions were agreed on payment of a substantial fine. Many foresters in charge of the day-today management of the forest were accused of abusing their powers to the detriment of the commoners.

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Head from the effigy of Henry III’s monument in Westminster Abbey © Dean and Chapter of Westminster

When opposition to King John’s misrule came to a head in 1215, the forest figured prominently among the grievances which the barons presented to him. Probably warned of trouble brewing over his forest policy, John backed off from the harshness that had characterised the sentences passed down in the forest courts, and attempted to bring the minor tyrannies of the royal foresters under control. Clause 48 of Magna Carta provided that: ‘All evil customs, of forests … are immediately to be investigated in each and every county by twelve sworn knights … and within forty days of the inquiry are to be entirely abolished …’

Little, however, happened and it took another two years of negotiation with both King John, and the Earl Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, acting on behalf of Henry III before an acceptable separate charter for the forest would be published.

The Charter of the Forest, which has seventeen clauses, reined in the forests that had been created since the accession of Henry II. The commoners’ rights to graze their

cattle on the forest waste between Michaelmas and Martinmas each year, and to put their pigs into the forest to eat acorns and beechmast, were codified, along with the right to take wood for their own use out of the forest. No man was to lose life or limb for taking venison. He was to be fined, unless he could not pay, in which case he was to be imprisoned for a year and a day. He could then be released if he could find sureties. If not, he was banished from the country.

Under the final clause, the king granted to all persons the liberties of all the forest and free customs they previously had within forests and without. All must observe the liberties and customs granted in this charter.

The Charter of the Forest was reissued in 1225 with one important addition: that in return for the king granting the liberties contained in the charter, the barons, knights and freeholders would pay a fine of a fifteenth part of all their movables.

The Charter was seen as legitimising customary rights and over centuries was cited in campaigns to uphold these rights. The alienation of so

huge an area of land from national uses and national liberties remained for hundreds of years a source of constant bickering between the king and his subjects. However, as the complicated medieval system of land tenure gave way to more modern notions of private property, and access to common land was threatened by so-called enclosure, more areas were taken out of the royal forests in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by sale of the forestal rights to the local gentry and noble families, and the administrative and judicial system began to crumble. The royal forest of Essex had become limited to the south-west of the county, together with some small outliers at Writtle and Kingswood (Colchester) and was now known as Waltham Forest.

The Charter of the Forest ceased to have effect in this country when the Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act was passed in 1971. The only remaining vestige of the royal forest system is the office of verderer which continues in the New Forest, Forest of Dean and Epping Forest, although their role today is much changed.

Original copies of the 1217 Charter of the Forest still exist, one in the archives of Lincoln Cathedral, the other in Durham Cathedral. The Charter was issued by the Earl Marshal and the Papal Legate, on behalf of Henry III, who had succeeded his father, John, in 1216, but was only ten years old.

Richard Morris See P21–24 for details of our Forest Charter events.

Summer 2017 Forest Focus 9

Milestones within Epping Forest

Along the Forest roadsides, stand a number of milestones. The history of these charming roadside markers, that indicate distances, direction, and sometimes the name of the locality, can be traced back to Roman times. From the 1750s, milestones were compulsory on all highways and turnpikes. Many were taken down or defaced during World War II to baffle potential German invaders.

Author and historian, James Waters, sheds some light on the recent work carried out to restore some of the Forest’s remaining wayside milestones.

‘While writing my book, Thornwood Common, an Essex Village, I became interested in the old, neglected milestones that exist around the Lower Forest area.

10 Forest Focus Summer 2017

I was aware of the recent restoration of milestones carried out by Loughton Town Councillors, particularly on Goldings Hill, and approached North Weald Parish Council for permission to restore the three stones in Thornwood Common. Funding was secured from Essex County Council Community Initiatives Fund on condition that all the remaining five stones in the Parish were restored.

An information leaflet has been produced explaining what milestones are, their position within North Weald Parish and their importance as part of our roadside heritage’.

Working in partnership with the City of London, clearance work around one stone in the Lower Forest was carried out to expose the milestone.

For the bookshelf Thornwood Common, an Essex Village James Waters Go on a journey with James Waters to discover the fascinating history of a Forest village, Thornwood Common. Uncover overlooked corners of this not so well known Essex village abutting beautiful Wintry Wood.

Available from The View

Tarzy Woodfest Sunday 16 July 10am–5pm Located on the junction of Wanstead High Street and New Wanstead Road E11 2AA. Come along to this community led festival in Tarzy Wood and enjoy local community group stalls, live music, food and drink, bushcraft and storytelling.

Why not try something new? Children can enjoy the wonderful opportunity to climb with the Forest’s arborists and sit amongst the tree branches in our Children’s Tree Climbing. For adults, you can watch the tree canopy shrink as you rise to 100 foot above Wanstead and take in panoramic views of the city in a unique Tree Canopy Experience!

Admission free but some activities are chargeable and require pre-booking.

Children’s Tree Climbing £5pp and the Tree Canopy Experience £10pp must be booked in advance, tickets will not be available on the day.

For further information and to book, visit http://goo.gl/iUI8bt 020 7332 1911

Summer 2017 Forest Focus 11

Open air theatre season

Pride and Prejudice This summer, renowned national theatre company, Illyria, will be performing a dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice in Wanstead Park. Pride and Prejudice was first published in January 1813. The book’s famous opening line, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’, the reverse, was only too true for Catherine Tylney Long, the Wanstead heiress.

A single woman, in possession of a vast fortune, Catherine was courted by a royal prince, hassled by a stalker and fell for a Regency cad, William Wellesley Pole. In 1812 she married him. True to form and stranger than fiction, he forgot the ring.

Catherine’s estates were said to be worth £40,000 a year. Her financial investments were worth £300,000. That’s seriously rich compared to the fictional fortunes of Pride and Prejudice. Mr Bingley was a fine catch at £4000 a year.

The delectable if abrupt Mr Darcy is seen as very superior with £10,000 a year.

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By 1822, William and Catherine, the celebrity couple, were bankrupt and their possessions put up for auction. On her marriage, Catherine’s fortune would have been surrendered to her husband.

In the 1822 sale catalogue, amongst the great pictures, the Gobelin tapestries, the carved furniture and the expensive wines, were the books of a well-stocked library.

Lot 516, a job-lot of ten books, included the three volumes of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Your guess, dear Reader, is as good as ours as to whether Catherine in the early days of her marriage had hoped William might turn out to be a Darcy. Or was she already suspecting he might be a bit more of a Wickham? Let’s hope at least that she enjoyed curling up on a lavishly gilded Wanstead sofa to enjoy the short term escapism of a good book once in a while.

See P24 for further information and booking details.

For the bookshelf The Angel and the Cad: Love, Loss and Scandal in Regency England Geraldine Roberts At the age of sixteen, Catherine Tylney Long became the wealthiest heiress in England, and the public found their ‘angel’.

Witty, wealthy and beautiful, Catherine was the most eligible of young ladies and was courted by royalty but, ignoring the warnings of her closest confidantes, she married for love. Her choice of husband was the charming but feckless dandy William Wellesley Pole, nephew of the Duke of Wellington…

Available from The View.

One for the bookshelf The Angel and the Cad: Love, Loss and Scandal in Regency England Geraldine Roberts At the age of sixteen, Catherine Tylney Long became the wealthiest heiress in England, and the public found their ‘angel’. Witty, wealthy and beautiful, Catherine was the most eligible of young ladies and was courted by royalty but, ignoring the warnings of her closest confidantes, she married for love. Her choice of husband was the charming but feckless dandy William Wellesley Pole, nephew of the Duke of Wellington…

This summer’s open air theatre season presents:

Available from The View?

The Comedy of Errors Friday 7 July 7pm–9.30pm The Temple enclosure

The Wind in the Willows Sunday 9 July 11am–2pm and 3pm–6pm Barn Hoppitt, Chingford

The Emperor’s New Clothes

The Wind in the Willows A delightful and innovative promenade production, based on Kenneth Grahame’s book, takes an unsuspecting audience on an exciting journey to meet Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad in their homes and follows them as they pursue the weasely weasels and sly stoats!

This production is full of music and dance, starting with a picnic and ending with a dance involving the entire audience.

The original production was commissioned by The London Wildlife Trust to raise awareness of the declining number of water voles. Epping Forest offers an outstanding stage for this wonderful production.

Thursday 10 August 3pm–5pm The Temple enclosure

Pride and Prejudice Sunday 20 August 3pm–5pm The Temple enclosure See P21–24 for further information and booking details.

Summer 2017 Forest Focus 13

Prince Harry visits the Forest The City of London Corporation were delighted to welcome HRH, Prince Harry, to Epping Forest on 15 March. The Prince was officially dedicating Epping Forest to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy (QCC).

The QCC was launched in 2015 and was designed to create a network of forest conservation initiatives throughout the 52 nations of the Commonwealth. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of the value of forests and to save them for future generations as well as to create a unique network of forest conservation projects that will enable the global sharing of best practice and collaborative initiatives.

Prince Harry’s visit commenced at Barn Hoppitt in Chingford, an important habitat and Site of Special Scientific Interest. Here the Prince met with Lucky and Ragamuffin, two of Epping Forest’s longhorn cows, who help to graze the Forest to maintain the vital wood pasture habitat. He then met with Epping Forest’s conservation team to find out about tree management work taking place to protect the Forest’s significant veteran trees.

Prince Harry took time to talk with Forest Keeper Sam Hobbs, a former paratrooper who served nine years and was injured in 2012. Sam’s Forest Keeper post, as well as studies in countryside and wildlife 14 Forest Focus Summer 2017

management, is funded by Help for Heroes as part of their transition from the armed forces programme.

The Prince then moved to the High Beach area where he visited school groups enjoying outdoor education activities run by the City of London and Field Studies Council. Here he also met with the ‘Happy Loppers’, a special educational needs group who work on conservation tasks throughout the Forest.

Prince Harry then planted an oak tree on Queen’s Green in High Beach before finalising the visit with a group photograph.

The City of London Corporation are very proud that Epping Forest is included in the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy and look forward to working with forests around the Commonwealth to share ideas on how to protect the heritage and biodiversity of unique woodlands around the world.

To enjoy your local patch of the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy in Epping Forest, why not attend some of the events planned throughout the summer P21–24.

Autumn 2016 Forest Focus 15

Now available from The View Venison and English Longhorn beef

Why not pop into The View, Epping Forest’s Visitor Centre in Chingford and treat yourself to some Epping Forest venison burgers or sausages?

Succulent English Longhorn beef, home grown in Epping Forest, is also available from the freezer cabinet at The View.

To check availability, please telephone 020 7332 1911

Morning mist on Wanstead Flats We were delighted to come across this poem

by Jeanne Holland who lives in Wanstead.

We think it’s a wonderful representation of how the Forest is part of daily life for local people.

Morning mist on Wanstead Flats Makes ghosts of lofty city towers A hazy demarcation line Between quietude and urban power The early sun in Wanstead Park Rouses birds to wing and song And sighing trees full-leaved breathe out As men breathe in a day begun And down each road in sleepy houses Morning starts with feuds and groans School run frenzy starts again With breakfast left and prep undone The High Street pulls its shutters up While workers rush to catch the tube New posh shops and favourite chains To satisfy all shopping moods Noon. And social buzz hits high As cafes brim and lunch is served Then nights delight with choice unbounded Drinks and dinners well deserved Sunday peals at local Churches Strolls through parks and open spaces Times of change, but nothing changes Wanstead. London’s green oasis Jeanne Holland Do you have poem to share, inspired by Epping Forest? We’d love hear from you, please email epping.forest@cityoflondon.gov.uk

We love seeing your photos Wanstead Flats by Tayla McLuskie. We came across this wonderful image of Epping Forest on Instagram @earthyencounters. Thanks to Tayla for permission to print this. We love seeing the great photographs of #EppingForest on social media, so please use #EppingForest to link with us on Twitter (CoLEppingForest), Facebook (Epping Forest City of London) and Instagram (@CoLEppingForest).

Centenary Walk Join the annual Epping Forest Centenary Walk

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Contact us on the day Please see website for walk leader’s mobile number.

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Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge

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4.30pm Arrive Bell Common, Epping.

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2.15pm Depart High Beach

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Hobbs Cross Farm

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12.30pm Arrive Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, E4 7QH where we take a break for lunch. Depart Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge at 1.15pm

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Arranged by the Friends of Epping Forest, with support from Epping Forest Centenary Trust, the West Essex Ramblers and the Conservators of Epping Forest.

For more details, contact 020 8418 0730 or visit www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk

Epping Green

Bumble’s Green

Discover more about Epping Forest by walking the entire length in the day or take part in one of the local sections of the long walk from south to north. Celebrate how lucky we are to have Epping Forest!

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Sunday 17 September 9am–5pm

Ilford

City of London Cemetery

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Manor Park

Summer 2017 Forest Focus 17

Sights of

Summer Look out for some of the beautiful plants and animals that may be seen in the Forest over the summer months …

Bird’s-foot trefoil Bird’s-foot trefoil is widespread throughout the Forest’s heathlands, grasslands and ride sides, its cheery flowers appearing from May through to September. It is known by several names including ‘butter and eggs’, ‘eggs and bacon’, ‘hen and chickens’ and rather offputtingly, ‘granny’s toenails’. The latter name referring to its claw-like seed pods.

Fox With its acute senses and intelligence, the fox is at home both in towns, cities and countryside. They are still much at home in the Forest and frequently seen both day and night. By summer, the cubs are out and about exploring their new world.

Nuthatch A true bird of the deeper parts of the Forest, these busy birds are typically seen working their way, headfirst, down a tree trunk foraging for food.

Stag beetle Amongst the most impressive of wood beetles, the grubs spend up to six years of their life munching on the deadwood of rotting logs and trees before they emerge as beetles. Stag beetles are a very important species in Epping Forest, as they form part of our Special Area of Conservation status.

Great spotted woodpecker Of all the woodpeckers, the Great spotted woodpecker does the most drumming. The male has a crimson splash on the back of his head. A rounded hole in a tree, especially with fresh woodchippings littering the ground, indicate a woodpecker’s nest.

Cockchafer The cockchafer is a familiar sight on a warm May or June evening, with its lazy droning flight. The grubs live in the soil, feeding on the roots of young trees.

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The People’s Forest The People’s Forest is a major new contemporary visual art project by artist Gayle Chong Kwan which explores and celebrates Epping Forest (described by Queen Victoria as ‘The People’s Forest’) as a collection of shared resources, as a liminal space, and as an exploration of the tensions between capital and common, private and public.

Fallow fawn Fallow fawns are born during June and for the first few weeks of life hide in the shelter of tall vegetation whilst their mothers feed. They are particularly vulnerable as they run the risk of discovery by predators. If you encounter a fawn, it is important not to disturb it, its mother will not be far away and will return once you leave.

Chong Kwan will host a wide range of public workshops and events throughout 2017 and 2018, including walks, talks, workshops, picnics, and banquets. These will inform the development of a major new body of work for a solo exhibition at the William Morris Gallery, and The View in 2018. Central to the project is the tree as site for celebration and protest and Chong Kwan’s ambitious new large-scale sculpture of a pollarded tree will form the centre-piece of the Walthamstow

Garden Party at the William Morris Gallery in July 2017, before its installation in the Barbican later this year.

The View Chingford, E4 7QH William Morris Gallery London E17 4PP www.wmgallery.org.uk Barbican London EC2Y 8DS www.barbican.org.uk

The People’s Forest: Forest Charter Walk and Workshop Sunday 4 June 10am–12noon See P21

WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY

Lousewort Lousewort is one of the Forest’s plant species that benefits from grazing. Before cattle grazing was reintroduced, there was only a small patch in the Forest the size of a carpet tile. Now, these purple flowers carpet much more of the Forest floor.

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Remembering a great Forest friend We were so sorry to learn that Ken Hoy passed away in January. Verderer Peter Adams has penned this note about Ken, having known him for many years.

Kenneth Edward Hoy MBE 1924–2017 The Hoys were an old established Woodford family dating back to the time when it was a small village, and Ken spent all his early life there. Considering his later life as a teacher it is all the more remarkable that he did not get on well at school. He spent all his spare time walking in the Forest and learning about its natural history. In the early 1940s he joined a group of like-minded people working together, as the local branch of the London Natural History Society, to study the Cuckoo Pits area of the Forest. Despite his young age he had become recognised as the number one ornithologist in the area. He has recently re-written to popular acclaim some of his many field notes from this time for the Essex Birdwatching Society.

He was fortunate to be too young to be called up until later in the Second World War but in due course became a gunner with Bomber Command. Returning to work after the War, he attended lectures at London School of Economics and this alongside his great love of reading enabled him to go to College where he qualified as a teacher.

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He taught for nine years at Whitehall School in Chingford before getting a job at Jubilee Retreat teaching Walthamstow children about the natural history of his beloved Forest. He started on 1 January 1963 and was not put off by the ‘big freeze’ that lasted until after Easter. Not long after Walthamstow joined with Leyton and Chingford to become London Borough Waltham Forest, it was offered the former Suntrap Maternity Home. The decision was taken to transfer the service from Jubilee Retreat to form Suntrap Forest Education Centre and it opened in 1967 with Ken as Headteacher.

Over succeeding years Ken was supported to expand the facility with improvements to the building and additional staff. He was given the freedom to develop his philosophy of using the natural environment of the Forest as a teaching resource for achieving the broader educational aims of the primary school rather than just for nature study as an end in itself. He became a noted figure nationally in field studies education. It was characteristic of him that when he was awarded an MBE for this work, he was reluctant to accept it because he felt his staff were equally worthy. He was also made a Freeman of the City of London.

In 1969 he was one of the founder members of the Friends of Epping Forest and soon became Chairman, a role he was to maintain for nearly 40 years.

Outside his work at Suntrap he continued to develop his educational role writing numerous books about natural history and the Forest and education articles about field studies. He also led walks and taught adult education classes. His book, Getting to Know Epping Forest, will undoubtedly be a standard reference for many years to come. Ken’s charm and a natural gift as a teacher have meant that he will be remembered by all who met him and many thought of him as simply ‘Mr Epping Forest’.

Summer events June Exhibition: Solitude.

An exhibition of artworks by Matt King Saturday 3 June – Friday 30 June The View

Matt King presents an exciting expressionistic View of Epping Forest. The Forest has always provided the artist with solace and great inspiration. Free.

No booking required.

The People’s Forest: Forest Charter walk and workshop Sunday 4 June 10am–12noon The View

Walk in the Forest with artist Gayle Chong Kwan and participate in a creative workshop to explore the meaning and relevance of the 1217 Forest Charter, then and now. Participants will learn about the Charter, make their own text based upon it as well as explore other creative responses. £5 per adult.

Booking required.

Family bike ride

Sunday 11 June 11am–4pm Bury Road Car Park, E4 7QJ Join Forest Keeper Ian Greer, for a fun family led bike ride through Epping Forest. All riders must be competent in riding and helmets are essential. £3.50 per person. Booking required.

To book, visit: http://goo.gl/iUI8bt

Event: Bio-Blitz

Saturday 17 June Meet Centre Road Car Park, Wanstead Flats Join the Wren Group on the Flats for their annual Bio-Blitz. The programme includes leisurely walks, children’s activities and much more. For more information, visit www.wrengroup.org.uk Free. No booking required.

Event: Bio-Blitz

Sunday 18 June The Temple, Wanstead Park Repeat of Saturday 17 June event.

Walk with Richard Arnopp, Local Historian

The Friends of Epping Forest guided walks High Beach entrepreneurs Sunday 4 June 2016 10am–12.30pm Pillow Mounds car park

Midsummer evening walk

Saturday 17 June 7pm–9pm Meet along Hornbeam Lane, off Bury Road, Chingford

Insects and summer flowers at Swaines Green

Saturday 1 July 11am–1pm Meet at Swaines Green entrance off Coronation Hill, Epping.

Exploring the Forest from Loughton to Theydon Bois

Sunday 18 June 11am–1pm Meet Warren Road Car Park, Wanstead Park

Sunday 16 July 10am–1pm Meet outside Loughton Station

Join local historian Richard Arnopp for a walk in and around Wanstead Park.

Free: No booking required.

Saturday 12 August 10.30am–12.30pm

Dog Show: Paws in the Forest

Sunday 25 June 11am–4pm The View

Discover Highams Park Lake and Mallinson Park Wood Meet at Junction of Keynsham Avenue and Marion Grove

www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk

Fun activities for dogs and their owners, including have-a-go agility, displays, stalls and dog show, including various categories, including best Forest Charter Dog. Free – £1 entry per category for dog show.

Music Event: Live music at The Temple enclosure Sunday 25 June 2pm–7pm The Temple, Wanstead Park

Live music from local musicians, to accompany picnics and Sunday relaxation. £2 payable on the door.

No booking required.

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events continued

July Strange Labyrinth – Talk by Author, Will Ashon

Sunday 2 July 3pm–5pm Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge Meet Author, Will Ashon, who will be talking about his new book, Strange Labyrinth.

Tickets: Signed book and welcome drink £14.95. General Admission: £2. Booking required.

Open Air Theatre: The Comedy of Errors Friday 7 July 7pm–9.30pm (Gates open at 6pm) The Temple Enclosure, Wanstead Park

In The Bard’s shortest, funniest and most rumbustious comedy two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, unknowingly end up in the same city. More and more people are sucked into a vortex of mistaken identity including an Officer who is paid per arrest, a Goldsmith who hasn’t been paid at all, a delayed Merchant, an irate Courtesan and a mad Exorcist.

To say nothing of a wife who sometimes feels her husband is two different personalities. And what exactly is the Abbess of Ephesus’s dark secret? Will anything ever make sense again? £14.95 adult, £8.95 child, £2.95 infant. Booking required.

Exhibition: Forest Charter 800 for all

Open Air Theatre: Wind in the Willows

The Forest Charter was issued on behalf of the 9 year old Henry III in 1217. Its provisions protected the rights of ‘free men’ to enter and earn a living on Forest land for centuries afterwards. Discover why your dog should be very grateful that ‘expeditation’ of dogs is no longer required; ponder your pigs’ ‘pannage’ opportunities and how to avoid charges for ‘chiminage’. Newly commissioned illustrations, activity sheets and a window into what people wanted to do in forests, 800 years ago.

Free. No booking required.

A delightful and innovative promenade production, based on Kenneth Grahame’s book.

The performance takes an unsuspecting audience on an exciting journey to meet Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad in their homes and follows them as they pursue the weasely weasels and sly stoats! This production is full of music and dance, starting with a picnic and ending with a dance involving the entire audience. £14.95 adult, £8.95 child, £2.95 infant.

Booking required.

Saturday 8 July – Sunday 8 October Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge

Exhibition: Annual Summer Show Saturday 8 July – Thursday 14 September The View

The Annual Summer Show celebrates its 5th year.

A collection of work form local artists reflecting the many delights of Epping Forest.

Free. No booking required.

Junior angling day

Saturday 8 July 10am–1pm Theydon Green Pond, Poplar Row, Theydon Bois Come and wet a line and try fishing. You might even catch a fish! 8–12 years. One adult can accompany two children, £5. Booking required.

Sunday 9 July 11am–2pm and 3pm–6pm Barn Hoppitt car park Barn Hoppitt, Chingford

Music event: Live music at The Temple enclosure Sunday 9 July 2pm–7pm The Temple, Wanstead Park

Live music from local musicians, to accompany picnics and Sunday relaxation. £2 payable on the door.

No booking required

Exhibition: Keystone trees

Thursday 13 – Friday 14 July The View Artist in residence, Marion Sidebottom, will be exhibiting photos of some of our important trees to coincide with the Ancient Tree Forum summer conference and the signing of the Concordat. Free event.

To book, visit: http://goo.gl/iUI8bt In exceptional circumstances, events may be cancelled.

Please check website beforehand.

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Discover Epping Forest day

Saturday 15 July 11am–3pm Venues: Epping Forest Field Centre and Epping Forest Visitor Centre Especially for families, an opportunity to try minibeast searching, pond dipping, craft sessions, bird watching and more. Guided trails available too. For more details contact Epping Forest Field Centre www.field-studies-council.org/ centre/eppingforest or Epping Forest Visitor Centre. Free. www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk

Tarzy Woodfest

Sunday 16 July 10am–4pm Tarzy Wood, Wanstead High Street. Located on the junction of Wanstead High Street and New Wanstead Road E11 2AA. Come along to this community led festival in Tarzy Wood and enjoy local community group stalls, live music, food and drink, bushcraft and storytelling. Free.

Booking required for Tree Climbing & Tree Canopy Experience.

Pond dipping at Highams Park Lake

Saturday 29 July 10am, 11.15am and 12.30pm Lakeside, next to the Scout Hut Building, Woodford Green, IG8 9RE Come and have a go at pond dipping and find out what’s lurking beneath the water! £2. Booking required.

The People’s Forest: Explore the sounds of the Forest walk Sunday 30 July 9.30am–12noon Meet at The View

Experience and explore the Forest through sound with artist Gayle Chong Kwan and a sound recordist. An opportunity to listen deeply and use sound recording equipment to weave personal memories and experiences of Epping Forest.

Your chance to contribute creatively to an artwork at the Barbican later in the year. £5 Booking required.

Field Studies Centre Epping Forest

During school holidays we run exciting, outdoor activities for families and children. Activities change each holiday and include pond dipping, shelter building and bat walks and many others. Details of upcoming courses can be found on our website: For adults, our natural history and arts courses are suitable for those with a general interest in the arts or natural history and the outdoors and those that wish to develop specific skills and knowledge about specific topics. Courses include aquatic plant identification, discovering bats, natural history of veteran trees and many more. www.field-studies-council.org/ centres/londonregion/ eppingforest

Family bike ride

Sunday 23 July 11am–4pm Bury Road Car Park, E4 7QJ Join Forest Keeper Ian Greer, for a family bike ride through Epping Forest. All riders must be competent in riding and helmets are essential. £3.50 per person. Booking required.

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events continued

August Junior angling day

Saturday 5 August 10am–1pm Connaught Water Car park Repeat of Saturday 8 July event. Booking required.

Music event: live music at The Temple enclosure Sunday 6 August 2pm–7pm The Temple, Wanstead Park

Repeat of Sunday 9 July event.

Bushcraft workshops: Tracking and hunting

Thursday 10 August 10am–1pm Barn Hoppitt car park.

Discover how our ancestors tracked and hunted. Have a go at making your own throwing arrow. 8–12 year olds. A minimum of one adult per two children is required throughout the event. Wild lunch provided for all. £10 per child. Booking required.

Open Air Theatre: The Emperor’s New Clothes Thursday 10 August 3pm–5pm (gates open at 2pm) The Temple enclosure, Wanstead Park

The Emperor is a lovely man, but he’s not the best judge of character. What keeps him sane is the monthly Grand Parade at which he wears his newest outfit. When two swindlers offer him the ability to identify competence by making him clothes which only the wise can see, what price will he have to pay? Will he end up losing his crown jewels? When someone spins a yarn must everyone be taken in? £14.95 adult, £8.95 child, £2.95 infant. Booking required.

The People’s Forest: Grimston’s Oak glorious picnic

Sunday 13 August 12noon–3pm Go directly to Grimston’s Oak at 12 noon or meet at The View 11.30am to walk together Bring your own picnic and enjoy music and creative activities about the spaces that people and trees need to thrive under the landmark tree, Grimston’s Oak. Join a celebration of Epping Forest’s ancient trees and the memory of lost woodlands, including Hainault Forest’s Fairlop Oak and its annual Fairlop Fair.

Free entry. Charges apply for some activities.

Further information 020 7332 1911 (Tuesday to Sunday 10am–5pm) cityoflondon.gov.uk/ eppingforestevents All children must be accompanied by an adult.

To book, visit: http://goo.gl/iUI8bt

Walk with Richard Arnopp, Local Historian Sunday 20 August 11am–1pm The Temple, Wanstead Park Repeat of Sunday 18 June event but with tea and cake at The Temple afterwards.

Free. No booking required.

Family bike ride

Sunday 20 August 11am–4pm Bury Road Car Park, E4 7QJ Repeat of Sunday 23 July event.

Open Air Theatre: Pride and Prejudice

Sunday 20 August 3pm–5pm (Gates open at 2pm) The Temple enclosure, Wanstead Park In a social whirlwind of balls, dinners and very eligible officers, Lizzie Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy stand alone as the only sane people – and they hate each other! Or do they? Can she see beyond his pride, and can he overcome her prejudice, in order to achieve their mutual happiness?

If your idea of Jane Austen is costume-drama, empire-lines and tea-parties, then this sparkling adaptation, based entirely on the original novel, is something to make you change your mind. Bring a picnic and have a ball as the irrepressible Illyria sharpen their claws to bring you Jane Austen at her vibrant, pacy, forthright, bitchy best! £14.95 adult, £8.95 child, £2.95 infant.

Booking required.

Bushcraft workshop: Water and shelter

Thursday 24 August 10am–1pm Barn Hoppitt car park Essential Bushcraft skills, discover how to find and clean water and the importance of shelter using manmade and natural methods. 8–12 year olds. A minimum of one adult per two children is required throughout the event. £10 per child. Booking required. Wild lunch provided for all.

Our Forest partners Epping Forest Centenary Trust www.efct.org.uk The Copped Hall Trust www.coppedhalltrust.org.uk Epping Forest Field Studies Centre www.field-studies-council.org/ centres/eppingforest High Beach Church www.highbeachchurch.org.uk Lakehouse Lake Project jubileepond@gmail.com Suntrap www.suntrapcentre.weebly.com The Friends of Epping Forest www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk Epping Forest Conservation Volunteers www.efcv.co.uk West Essex Ramblers www.westessexramblers.org.uk Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group www.wrengroup.org.uk

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Contact us The View

The Temple

6 Rangers Road, Chingford, E4 7QH Tel 020 7332 1911

Wanstead Park, E11 2LT Tel 020 7332 1911

Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am–5pm Open Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) The View, with its displays and regularly changing exhibitions, is the perfect place to start your exploration of Epping Forest.

Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge Rangers Road, Chingford, E4 7QH Tel 020 7332 1911 Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am–5pm* Open Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) The Hunting Lodge is a Grade II* listed building built for Henry VIII in 1543 and is an amazing survival of an intact Tudor hunt standing. *Subject to bookings, please telephone for details.

Open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) October to March 10am–3pm The Temple, a Grade II listed building, dates from the 1760s and is a survival from the heyday of Wanstead Park.

Epping Forest Visitor Centre at High Beach High Beach, IG10 4AE Tel 020 8508 0028 (during opening hours) Tel 020 7332 1911 (Monday to Wednesday) Open Thursday to Sunday and Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) November to March 10am–3pm Snuggled in the heart of the Forest, the Centre is located adjacent to the High Beach easy access path. The Centre is run by the Friends of Epping Forest. @COLEppingForest

Registered Charity 232 990 The Warren, Loughton, Essex IG10 4RW Tel 020 8532 1010 (24hrs)

E pping Forest City of London c oleppingforest