Forest Focus Spring 2018

Spring 2018

Forest Focus The magazine for Epping Forest

Repton’s landscapes

The King’s deer

Free

Spring events

Welcome There is always one day in the New Year when one senses that spring is not far away – be it because of a change in temperature, the increase in birdsong or perhaps just a feeling that nature is stirring from its winter slumber. These special, imperceptible days are often experienced during a visit to Epping Forest. This is not surprising, given the Forest’s huge biomass, including an estimated one million trees whose vernal sap begins to rise as winter thaws.

So come and experience the changing season in the Forest this spring.

This spring edition of Forest Focus highlights the work of Artist in Residence Marion Sidebottom. Be sure

to visit her exhibition at The View, which runs from Saturday 3 March to Monday 2 April, to view her charming photos of some of the Forest’s trees and find out what they mean to people P12–13.

Find out about Epping Forest Heritage Trust’s, quackily named new Duck Champion, Ute Villavicencio.

Ute reveals the work behind the title P10.

To help you explore the Forest further, treat yourself, family and friends to a copy of the newly revised Official Map of Epping Forest or a copy of our super new book, Short Walks in Epping Forest P9.

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Blooming marvellous

Repton’s landscapes in Epping Forest

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The King’s deer 2 Forest Focus Autumn 2017

Ancient trees and the people of Epping Forest exhibition

The Forest is buzzing this spring, not just with life amongst the trees, but exhibitions, events, activities and new publications. For further information, pop into one of our Forest Visitor Centres or visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/eppingforest

@COLEppingForest Epping Forest City of London coleppingforest

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The larks still bravely singing…

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Duck Champion

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The People’s Forest Gayle Chong Kwan

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A Forest themed wedding

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Focus on The Lower Forest Spring 2018 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 for public recreation and health, including Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, Burnham Beeches, City Commons, City Gardens, City of London Cemetery and Crematorium and West Ham Park. The Open Spaces Department also includes London Heritage sites: Keats’ House, The Monument and Tower Bridge.

See our website for a full list of sites, locations and facilities.

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 Gemini Print Southern Ltd Photographers: Dare and Hier Media, Epping Forest Heritage Trust, Marion Sidebottom, Sophie Lillington, Mark Powter, Yvette Woodhouse

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ greenspaces

Epping Forest – Lord Mayor’s Show 2017 Celebrating 800 years of the Forest Charter, Epping Forest took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show last November.

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.

You can also read Forest Focus online for free at www.issuu.com/cityoflondoneppingforest If you would like to receive a copy of Forest Focus in an alternative format, please contact us.

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

@COLEppingForest

epping.forest@cityoflondon.gov.uk

E pping Forest City of London

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ eppingforest 4 Forest Focus Spring 2018

News in brief

coleppingforest

With excellent coverage on the BBC, committee members, staff and volunteers proudly paraded alongthe streets of the City of London to welcome in the new Lord Mayor of London, Charles Bowman.

Above: Lord Mayor’s show

Butterfly boon Butterfly surveys within the Forest last year indicated that both white admiral and purple emperor numbers are increasing. Transects within Essex are also showing a population increase for these two species. Another species on the increase within Essex is marbled white. Although an established population has not been confirmed, sightings for this species within Epping Forest were at their highest last year. It was also an excellent early summer for common blue, the first brood of which produced more adult males across the central grasslands of the Forest than had been seen for several years. It is hoped that numbers continue to increase this year.

Do let us know via social media if you see any of these interesting species or have any impressive Epping Forest butterfly photos.

Ornamental Water puzzle Making the most of last summer’s dry conditions and low water levels, staff were able to access The Ornamental Water islands in Wanstead Park, removing fallen timber and cutting back woody vegetation from the edges. This work was carried out to restore the definition on the western side of the islands, leaving the eastern side to develop more naturally.

In the process of the works being undertaken, three new structures

were found, including a brick lined culvert that we suspect was once the inlet for water coming from the River Roding when it was on its original alignment. Two bases were also revealed for a bridge linking the Heronry and Rookery Islands.

This bridge is relatively unknown in the records and is something of a puzzle.

We’ll let you know more when new information comes to light.

Chewing the cud As winter starts to fade and the last of the cows have their calves, the smell and warmth of spring starts to fill the air. With over 40 calves born, it’s been a busy time making sure everyone is well cared for and where they need to be for their stage of life. A few calves needed extra attention such as the bull calf with tight tendons that required stomach tube feeding for five days and his limbs stretching by hand before making a strong recovery.

The Sussex cows that we looked

after over the winter in our sheds have gone back to our sister site at City Commons in Surrey to begin grazing their grasslands.

This is always a busy time of year with staff checking fences, water and infrastructure ready for the cattle to be turned out. We now wait for the ground to firm up so we can get the young cattle out to fenced sites and begin training the cows to the invisible fence system before they go out onto the Forest.

Jill Barklem, author We were very saddened to hear of the death of Jill Barklem, the creator of the Brambly Hedge stories which have enchanted children and adults alike for the past 35 years, in November 2017.

Jill Barklem lived in the Epping Forest area and had based the charming setting for the beautifully illustrated Brambly Hedge books on the Forest landscape at High Beach. We are sure that the tales of the woodland creatures will go on to delight future generations and offer our sincere condolences to Jill Barklem’s family.

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Repton’s landscapes in Epping Forest This year the life and work of Humphry Repton (1752–1818) is be being celebrated, as the bicentenary of his death is remembered on 24 March 2018.

Humphry Repton was a renowned landscape designer and is often thought of as the successor to Capability Brown. He was born in Bury St Edmunds but had settled to live in the Romford area prior to changing his career in 1788.

Repton had demonstrated his talent for art and writing with early careers as both an artist and a journalist.

Repton had been inspired by a childhood friend to study botany and gardening. Combining these skills, alongside his seemingly very effective marketing abilities, he set himself up as a ‘landscape gardener’, a job title he apparently created himself.

Repton had some very good connections and was therefore able to pitch his services to many of the wealthy land owners around the

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country. During the visit to the client, Repton famously produced a ‘Red Book’ which included text alongside exquisite watercolours which he would overlay to demonstrate effectively ‘before’ and ‘after’ views, to promote his suggested transformations of the landscape in question.

Here in Epping Forest we are fortunate to have three Repton landscapes. These can be found at The Warren (which is now the site of the Epping Forest headquarters), Highams Park and Wanstead Park.

Repton was called in to landscape The Warren and details of the project can be found in the book Repton’s Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the late Humphry Repton Esquire, by J. C. Loudon. This particular project is

introduced as ‘Report concerning a Villa in Essex, very singularly situated; consisting of four or five acres of garden, in the centre of Epping Forest, abounding in deer, and immediately surrounded by a Rabbit Warren of 20 acres.’ The Warren House was at that time the ‘Rein-deer Tavern’ and is described thus: ‘somewhere appropriated to the Sunday visits of those who made holiday, fancying they enjoyed solitude in a forest, amidst the crowd of ‘felicity hunters’ who came here to forget the cares of London’.

Repton’s primary concern here was to remove the rabbits and to keep out the deer. This was successfully achieved by making: ‘…a fence of six feet against the deer, while a person walking withinside, will look over the pale and enjoy the prospect of the forest’. Indeed the

‘prospect of the forest’ from this location is still breathtaking. Even the Epping New Road is not visible, despite running parallel to this particular spot.

The ever popular ‘Highams Park Lake’ was formed by Repton, who created it by damming the River Ching. The Lake and park area originally joined Highams House (which is now Woodford County High School). Aside from the lake, at this site, many aspects of the designed landscape have been largely lost due to residential development.

described Wanstead Park as ‘one of the most magnificent places in the country’.

We hope you may take this opportunity to celebrate the life and works of Humphry Repton by enjoying a stroll around these historical landscapes which can be found within Epping Forest. Walks in Highams Park and Wanstead Park are included in our new ‘Short walks in Epping Forest’ book (see P9) and further information on these areas can be found on our website www. cityoflondon.gov.uk/eppingforest

Repton was responsible for extensive alterations to Wanstead Park, which began in 1813. This included plantations around the lakes and remodelling Ornamental Water.

Following completion, Repton Spring 2018 Forest Focus 7

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Blooming marvellous Spring is the time of new and renewed life and flowers are the quintessential symbol of this time of year. So why not get along to Epping Forest as its woodland bursts into life with the ephemeral and cheery spring blooms?

1. Bluebell April – May Wanstead Park is the best place to see bluebells but be sure to check on our website when they’re in flower to catch them at their breath-taking best.

2. Common dog violet April – June This exquisite little flower in its regal colours can be found throughout the Forest.

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3. Cowslip April – May Preferring more grassy areas, cowslips are more commonly found on the Forest’s Buffer Land rather than the Forest itself.

Staples Dam is a good spot for these delightful flowers.

4. Cuckoo flower April – June Its name alone evokes the atmosphere of spring.

Its now rather rare namesake is unfortunately less common than the cuckoo flower that can be found in Epping Forest.

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5. Lesser celandine March – May Look out for the cheerful blooms of lesser celandine along the banks of streams and ditches.

6. Primrose December – May The Forest is studded with this unmistakable, low growing and sturdy little flower. The Lower Forest, between Epping and Thornwood is its stronghold.

7. Wild garlic April – May As its name suggests, wild garlic, has a distinctively strong smell and may be found growing en mass, especially in damp areas.

For the bookshelf Two great new publications Short walks in Epping Forest and Epping Forest The official map are two of the latest publications produced by the City of London Corporation. These full-colour publications make the ideal addition to any Forest lovers’ bookshelf.

Short walks in Epping Forest

Epping Forest The official map The official map of Epping Forest is recommended for anyone enjoying the Forest including cyclists, horse riders and walkers.

This highly detailed map ensures you have the best information to get the most out of your visit to Epping Forest. Find the best routes, finest viewpoints, heritage features and hidden places of interest. The full index of Forest place names and local street names, ensures that you know whether you are at Fairmead Bottom, Cuckoo Pits, Daisy Plain or other Forest location. Whether a daily user or occasional visitor to wonderful Epping Forest, this is the ultimate map to use.

Scale 3.5 inches to 1 mile 5.5 cm to 1 kilometre Available from the Forest Visitor Centres and good book shops. £4.95 Available mid-March.

The ultimate guidebook to 20 Walks of between two-thirds of a mile and seven miles, set throughout Epping Forest and its adjoining Buffer Land. This full colour, pocket sized guide is quite simply the best walking guide for this beguiling Forest.

With its deep ancient woodland, towering beeches, mosscovered dells, heather-clad heaths and grassland expanses, Epping Forest is a landscape of surprising diversity from its great stands of ancient pollards to its rich heritage features and numerous lakes and ponds.

There can be no better way of exploring Epping Forest than by foot. This richly illustrated book offers the opportunity to discover new routes and explore new places. If your heart is set on exploring more of beautiful Epping Forest, this is the book to get.

Available from the Forest Visitor Centres and good book shops. £6.99 Introductory £4.50 offer when purchasing in person from The View, just quote ‘Short Walks FF @ The View’.

The People’s Forest Gayle Chong Kwan A contemporary visual art project exploring the history, politics, and people of ancient Epping Forest.

If you’ve not already been, there is still time to drop into The Barbican to see Gayle Chong Kwan’s new work ‘The People’s Forest’.

Gayle has sought inspiration from the Forest over the past two years, including running creative, participatory activities, to create this contemporary exhibition.

The Barbican Running until 18 March 2019

Duck Champion Epping Forest has a new Duck Champion Project Officer thanks to funding from the City of London Community Fund.

Ute Villavicencio has been appointed by the Epping Forest Centenary Trust to be the proud bearer of this original job title. Her main role will be to increase awareness of the negative effects of feeding waterfowl bread. To achieve this, she will be running several educational sessions with schools and informative and fun events for the general public around Epping Forest’s ponds.

Bread and other rich-incarbohydrate processed foods are bad, both for the waterfowl and

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the general pond environment. The birds will eat these foods but they won’t get any nourishment from them and their health will be affected.

Uneaten bread and other food can attract rats and rot in the pond leading to smelly, dirty water. If you care about the waterfowl and the health of your local ponds plus want to get involved and learn more, look out on social media for the next Duck Champion events or e-mail efct@btinternet. com. Please see P18–20 for duck events

The King’s deer Tales of Epping Forest poaching in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

In centuries gone by Epping Forest like other royal forests and parks, was a playground for royals to enjoy the delights of the hunt. With a rich stock of deer, the Forest (then known as Waltham) attracted poachers.

In 1594 alone, 89 red and fallow deer were recorded killed or injured by poachers – and that must have been just the tip of the iceberg of what was going on.

The ‘common deer-stealers’ of previous centuries wanted venison either for their own use or to sell to the lucrative London black market. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was illegal to sell venison commercially, and deer were a highly protected species under Forest Law. The poachers hunted with hounds and used traps (or ‘engines’ as they were known), but their preferred method of dispatch was the crossbow or the gun – the use of which James VI of Scotland and I of England described as “a theevish forme of hunting.”

One such poacher was Richard Humble who in James I’s reign owned a successful tavern in Southwark. He also owned land in the parish of Hornchurch and, from this base, acting as his own supplier of the sought-after meat, would organise illegal hunting expeditions to kill red and fallow deer in Waltham Forest and the royal park of Havering-atte-Bower. This gang also included a surgeon, Augustine Simpson, and a baker, Robert Savage – both of whose skills would have come in handy.

Humble, the tavern-owner turned poacher, was appropriately of humble origins. Many more poachers during this period were gentlemen, and the commercial nature of deer killing was only one motivation for criminal hunters. If you are interested in learning more about this side of the Forest’s history, come to the exhibition on poaching at Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge from 24 February to 25 March and the free afternoon talk by Tom Rose at 2.30pm on Sunday 11 March.

Tom Rose

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Ancient trees and the people of Epping Forest exhibition Saturday 3 March – Monday 2 April Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge

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Artist in Residence Marion Sidebottom, has been working on the final part of her project “You Can’t See the Trees for the Woods”.

Marion has been out and about over the last few months discovering people’s tree stories for her March exhibition ‘Ancient trees and the people of Epping Forest’.

Marion’s research has involved talking to a variety of people and organisations, including Forest staff, local walking groups and residents.

Many tree stories will be told during the exhibition which runs at Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge from Saturday 3 March until Monday 2 April.

During the exhibition, various events will take place, including a Tree Photo Walk, a Meet the Artist event and a competition to win a limited edition print. An online storybook and gallery of tree stories will accompany the exhibition.

See P18 for further information.

Far Left: Lulu the dog, with her mistress at the Lost Pond.

A Mother introducing her son to an ancient oak

From top to bottom: Students learning about woodland ecology

Naturalist, Tricia Moxey, at High Beach

Marion pictured with Conservation Arborist, Tom Izod, at Pole Hill

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A Forest themed wedding We were delighted to come across an interesting use of our Way Marked Trails recently as theming and decoration for a wedding reception being held at a local venue.

We would like to wish the happy couple, Lynda and Peter Clements, our congratulations on their wedding. It was fantastic to see how their love of walking in Epping Forest was celebrated as part of their special day.

Lynda explains what it meant to them to include the Forest in their event: “Our reason for choosing Epping Forest as a theme was because we love walking our dog, Lula, in Epping Forest and we never cease to be surprised by the areas we discover. I grew up

in Waltham Forest and from the age of five was taken to various parts of the Forest; in turn I took my own children. Now we take our grandchildren for walks there. My husband, Peter, was born and raised in the countryside and after moving to London has been comforted to find such a vast forest on our doorstep.”

We are thrilled that Epping Forest helped form a backdrop to their wedding day and wish them a very happy future together.

Your wedding at Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge Say “I do” in style with a wedding or civil partnership at Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge.

Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge is the perfect Forest setting for your special celebration. Set in 6000 acres of ancient woodland, this Grade II* listed building is a unique example of a three storied Tudor hunt standing.

Commissioned by Henry VIII in 1543, it is Epping Forest’s architectural ‘jewel in the crown’.

For further information, please telephone 020 7332 1911 or visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/eppingforest 14 Forest Focus Spring 2018

The larks still bravely singing…

Spring is the nesting season and prime time for bird song. During this time birds are particularly vulnerable to disturbance, none more so than ground-nesting species such as skylarks.

These well camouflaged little birds, with their jaunty feather ‘hats’, have the most outstanding and unmistakable spiralling song, which forms the signature back drop to many a day out in the British countryside. And if you are in any doubt as to how a lark sings, listen to Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending.

In this 100th anniversary year of the end of the First World War, we remember that It was lark song across the battlefields of the First World War that inspired many soldiers in the trenches to mention them in their memoirs and letters home. War poets embraced them too, including Will Streets’ ‘A lark above the trenches’, Issac Rosenberg’s ‘Returning we hear the larks’ and best known of all, John McCrae’s ‘In Flanders fields’. It is perhaps indicative of how uplifting and common larks were some 100 years ago that these young soldiers wrote so fondly of them, symbolising escape and reminding them of home.

So we especially ask all our visitors to help these wonderful birds continue to bring joy to our lives by taking care when walking across open ground, especially on the Buffer Lands and Wanstead Flats. Please keep to well-worn paths and particularly don’t let your dog venture into areas that may be signposted as a ‘ground-nesting area’.

A Lark Ab ove the T renches Will Stree t … Hushe d is the sh riek of hu and hark rtling she ! lls: Somewh ere within that bit o Grand in f so his lonelin ess, his ec ft blue skyHis lyric w stasy, ild and fr ee – caro ls a lark...

Returning , We Hea r the Lark Issac Ros s enberg …But hark ! Joy— joy —strange Lo! Heigh ts of nigh joy. t ringing Music sho with unse wering o en larks: n our uptu rned liste ning face In Flande s… rs fields John Mc Crae …The lark s, Scarce h still bravely singing eard am , fly id the gu ns below …

Captain Fagan w rites in a letter to h …Some o is fiancé f the sunri ses have one day been ma in the tre gnificent; nches I h Man’s La eard a la nd… rk in No General Morrison wrote …in the m ornings, th the air be e larks sin tween th ging high e crash o the repo f the shell in rts of the and guns…

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Focus on

The Lower Forest

The Lower Forest is a fantastic place to explore in spring.

Due in part to it being quieter, denser and less disturbed than the more central parts of Epping Forest, it is a haven for wildlife. There is a high likelihood of spotting both muntjac and fallow deer that frequent this outlying ‘island’ of Forest.

Comprising oak and hornbeam woodpasture with ash standards, this area has perhaps the most interesting and diverse ground flora in the whole Forest. It is the stronghold for primrose, sanicle and broad-leaved helleborine. Cripsey Brook, which runs beside The Stump Road, has an exceptionally flower-rich margin and is well worth exploring at this time of year.

The Lake is encircled by trees, affording fantastic habitats for many species of birds and bats. The lake itself has a diverse flora, including floating club-rush, lesser marshwort, water violet, gipsywort and bladderwort. Grass snakes are frequently seen and the small island is well used by waterfowl.

So why not take time out to explore this little known area of Epping Forest that always holds the promise of getting closer to nature?

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Š Harper Collins/City of London

During the spring, The Lower Forest, resonates with the drumming of woodpeckers and is one of the best sites to visit, to experience the dawn chorus.

Distance: 2.5 miles (4 km) Time: 2 hours Start/end: The Woodyard car park Parking: The Woodyard car park Terrain: Natural woodland Nearest station: Epping Underground Station 1. One of the largest colonies of rooks in Essex is located in the north east corner of the Lower Forest. Their noisy cawing in the New Year heralds the start of spring.

2. Wintry Wood appears in records from the 13th century and was mentioned in the perambulation of the Forest in 1301. Old maps

indicate that there was a larger portion of woodland, to the west of Wintry Wood.

3. The Stump Road was once part of the old road between London and Newmarket. To the north it connects with the main road to Harlow, and at the eastern end with the road to Coopersale. By 1833 the turnpike roads were established and ran either side of the Wood and thus the Stump Road dwindled in importance.

4. Through a community project to relieve unemployment, local men dug out the lake in the winter of 1893/4. It was created as a place where people could swim in summer and skate in winter and was provided with a diving

board, life buoys and a changing shed nearby. Today, no swimming or skating is permitted on any of the Forest’s ponds for safety reasons.

5. The maturing maiden oaks growing on the former open plain began to grow and spread across The Plain during the 1930s.

This walk is based on a walk from Short Walks in Epping Forest book which is available from the Forest Visitor Centres P9.

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Spring events March Exhibition: Hunting the King’s deer – Tales of Epping Forest poaching in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

Saturday 24 February – Sunday 25 March Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge Forest Law protected deer for the benefit of the Crown but not only the King (or Queen) enjoyed the hunt and valued the opportunity for hospitality and favour that hunting offered.

Forests were royal playgrounds in which gentry and aristocratic feuds were played out and deer were poached by the rich and powerful as well as the less well off. Discover more about what really went on in Epping Forest in the early modern period. Free. No booking required. City of London Corporation event.

Exhibition: You can’t see the trees for the woods

Saturday 3 March – Monday 2 April The View The culmination of Artist in Residence, Marion Sidebottom’s, year-long project exploring how visual images can engage people’s interest in ancient trees and the Forest. Free.

No booking required. City of London Corporation event.

Mother’s Day afternoon tea

Saturday 10 March Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Walk: Discovering the wildfowl of Epping Forest

Sunday 11 March 11am–12.30pm and 1.30pm–3pm Highams Park Lake Free. Booking required 020 8508 9061. Epping Forest Centenary Trust event.

Talk: Hunting the King’s deer – tales of Epping Forest poaching in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

Sunday 11 March 2.30pm–3.30pm The View A talk by Tom Rose to accompany his Hunting Lodge exhibition. Find out more about the colourful individuals whose illegal hunting expeditions landed them in the law courts four hundred years ago. Tom is researching ‘Hunting, politics and culture in early Stuart England’. Come along to this discursive and entertaining presentation. Drawing and colouring materials will be available for children who may be attending the talk with their adults. Free. Booking required. City of London Corporation event.

Guided tour

Sunday 18 March 10am–11am Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Walk: Wanstead Park and Humphry Repton

Saturday 24 March 10.30am–12.30pm Junction of Warren Road and Raynes Avenue Friends of Epping Forest event.

Walk: Discovering the wildfowl of Epping Forest

Sunday 25 March 11am–12.30pm and 1.30pm–3pm Jubilee Pond Free. Booking required 020 8508 9061. Epping Forest Centenary Trust event.

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Further information 020 7332 1911 cityoflondon.gov.uk/ eppingforestevents To book, visit: http://goo.gl/iUI8bt

April Easter egg hunt

Sunday 1 April 2pm–4pm Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Garden afternoon

Sunday 1 April 2pm–4pm Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Easter fun

Monday 2 April 1pm–4pm The View Come along and join the Easter fun – egg decorating, Easter crafts and woodland trail.

Egg rolling: Hard boiled eggs provided for £2, children will decorate their egg and then at 2pm we will be running races outside the Hunting Lodge.

Winners get a chocolate treat.

Easter trail: Pick up an answer sheet and follow a trail through the woods, searching for clues.

Once you complete the answer sheet, pop it back to The View for a chocolate treat!

Easter bunny: The Easter bunny will be here all day, come along and take a picture with Epping Forest’s favourite bunny.

No booking required. Drop in session. City of London Corporation event.

Duck discovery trail drop in event Wednesday 4 April 11am–3pm Heronry Pond Epping Forest Heritage Trust event.

Taster session: Capturing spring in charcoal

Wednesday 4 April 1.30pm–3.30pm The View Lisa Ivory is a practising artist and experienced art lecturer who will be available to help you make exciting drawings of the Forest landscape using charcoal. Charcoal has soft, fragile, tenuous qualities that make it the perfect medium for the depiction of light.

Free event. No booking required. Waltham Forest Adult Education Service in partnership with the City of London Corporation event.

Exhibition: Essex Art Club

Sunday 8 April – Sunday 13 May The View Free. No booking required.

Essex Art Club event.

Walk: Birds of Wanstead Flats Sunday 8 April 10.30am–12pm Jubilee Pond car park Friends of Epping Forest event.

Duck discovery trail drop in event Wednesday 11 April 11am–3pm Alexandra Lake Epping Forest Heritage Trust event.

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events continued Guided tour

Sunday 15 April 10am–11am Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Wanstead Park Nature Club

Sunday 15 April 1pm–3pm The Temple Ages 2–7. £3.50 per child.

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands event.

Lecture: Alan Cox – Last year at Copped Hall Sunday 22 April Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Taster session: Treasure hunt photography

Wednesday 25 April 1.30pm–3.30pm The View Photographer, Tim Mitchell, will be running a photography workshop to help you take beautiful and dramatic photographs of the Forest in spring. Let him take you on a journey to improve your photography. You just need to bring a digital camera or mobile phone to take pictures.

Free. No booking required.

This event is offered by Waltham Forest Adult Education Service in partnership with the City of London Corporation event.

May Garden afternoon

Sunday 6 May 2pm–4pm Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Exhibition: Bancroft’s pop up exhibition of artwork by teachers and six form students Saturday 19 May – Sunday 27 May The View Free. No Booking required.

Bancroft School event.

Guided tour

Sunday 20 May 10am–11am Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Walk: Galleyhill Wood in spring

Sunday 20 May 10.30am–12.30pm The Temple Aimes Green Friends of Epping Forest

Epping Forest Discovery Day for groups with disabilities

Wednesday 23 May Epping Forest Visitor Centre at High Beach Booking required. Epping Forest Heritage Trust event

Open day

Sunday 27 May 1am–4pm Copped Hall Copped Hall Trust event.

Duck discovery trail drop in event Wednesday 30 May 11am–3pm Hollow Pond Epping Forest Heritage Trust event.

Forest partners’ events: Copped Hall Trust www.coppedhalltrust.org.uk Epping Forest Heritage Trust event efct@btinternet.com Essex Art Club www.arctotis.net Friends of Epping Forest www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk The Friends of Wanstead Parklands www.wansteadpark.org.uk Bancrofts School www.bancrofts.org

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137 George Lane, South Woodford, London E18 1AN

172 High Street, Epping, Essex CM16 4AQ

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Email: essexwest@bluebirdcare.co.uk

Email: redbridge@bluebirdcare.co.uk

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Email: midessex@bluebirdcare.co.uk

Regulated by the Care Quality Commission and member of UKHCA

www.bluebirdcare.co.uk

UKHCA

UNITED KINGDOM

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BOOK FOR MOTHERS DAY LUNCHEON 11TH MARCH ADULTS £35.00 CHILDREN £15.00 0208 508 5000

The Kings Oak offers a full menu of fine Gastro Pub food all cooked to order by our wonderful team of Chefs.

A weekday set menu offers Chefs seasonal specialities... one course £7.95 / 2 courses £10.95 / 3 courses £14.95 Sunday Luncheon is every popular at £22.95 for 3 courses.

A host of exciting events are held throughout the year at the Kings Oak for info visit our website www.kingsoakhotel.com 0208 508 5000 info@kingsoakhotel.com Kings Oak Hotel, Pauls Nursery Road, High Beach, Essex, IG10 4AE

Spring 2018 Forest Focus 23

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.

Open Saturdays and Sundays April – September 12pm–5pm October – 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.

*Subject to bookings, please telephone for details.

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

E pping Forest City of London coleppingforest