THE MANAGEMENT OF EPPING FOREST.
57
Afterwards the 147TH Ordinary Meeting of the Club was held in
one of the large rooms of the hotel, Mr. F. Chancellor (President) in the chair.
Many who had not joined the party in the woods attended the evening
meeting, including Mr. Percy Lindley, a voluminous letter-writer on the con-
dition of the Forest, Mr. W. G. S. Smith, late secretary of the "Forest Fund," and
Mr. Porter, Hon. Sec. of the "Forest Ramblers Club," both of whom had also
written strongly on the matter.
After the formal business, Miss M. S. Walker, B.A., and Mr. Wykeham
Chancellor, M.A., were elected members of the Club.
The President then called upon Prof. Meldola, F.R.S. (one of the Permanent
Vice-Presidents).
Prof. Meldola opened the discussion as follows :—
The meeting which has been held this afternoon, for the summoning of which
J am partly responsible, has enabled you to see for yourselves the recent forestal
operations which have given rise to such a large amount of correspondence in the
newspapers. At the outset of this discussion, which I have the honour of opening,
let me place upon record the extreme satisfaction with which I greet the spirit
which has prompted most of the writers, who have taken up the pen in defence of
the ancient Forest, whose beauty was in their opinion being jeopardised. It is a
very healthy sign when the public take such a keen interest in our open spaces as
has been displayed during the last few weeks in connection with Epping Forest.
Whether agreeing or disagreeing with the predominating opinions, I desire to pay
this tribute to the public sentiment.
After fourteen years work in the county, and more especially in this district,
the Essex Field Club has established a claim to make itself heard in all questions
affecting the welfare of the Forest. We have spoken our minds on former
occasions ; our united action bore fruit eleven years ago, when the Forest Was
threatened by a railway. Should a similar occasion arise, we shall, I hope, be
again prepared to do battle with the aggressor. But we have assembled here on
the present occasion, not for the purpose of opposing a railway Bill, not even for
the purpose of protesting against a new line of tramway but with the object
of discussing, in an amicable and scientific spirit, the results of this after-
noon's ramble through our glorious woodlands, which, as you have seen, still
survive in spite of the dismal forebodings of some of the recent critics. We
were told in "The Pall Mall Gazette," of April 12th, that unless the operations
were stopped "in a few weeks Epping Forest will be a thing of the past" !
The discussion of the management of the Forest is most opportune at the
present juncture. We have with us experts whose opinion will carry weight
throughout the country. Whatever opinions we may have formed individually,
we are all agreed in starting from the common ground that the Forest shall be as
natural and as beautiful a tract of country as it can possibly be made. In view
of the large amount of adverse criticism which has been passed upon the doings of
the Conservators, it seemed to me that the time was ripe for an expression of
opinion by the members of the Club. If eleven years ago we took an active part
in Forest politics, it is but right that now, after more than a decade of manage-
ment by the Conservators, we should again raise our voice in fair and unbiassed
judgment.
I have been asked to open this discussion, and I do so with all the pleasure
that can be derived from a knowledge that we all have the same end in view. I
ask you to deal with the question in the same spirit. There are gentlemen
present who have in print expressed themselves, more or less forcibly, opposed to