84 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
was thinned, which is about twenty acres in extent, there were approximately
2,000 standing,1 besides a large number of hornbeam pollards. About 600 oaks
were marked for removal, but on the recommendation of two of the Commissioners,
nominated by their Chairman, 300 only were removed during the past season.
On the one hand, there are those who urge that closely grown oaks have a beauty
of their own, and that this wood should have been let alone ; on the other, it is
pointed out that it has already entered upon a state of decadence, as is proved by
the numerous dead and dying branches obviously caused by overcrowding, and by
the poverty of the foliage.
Mr. Buxton and Mr. A. D. Webster took the greatest care to demonstrate and
explain both what had been done and what remained to be done in this wood, and
an impartial survey of its present condition would convince most people that some
drastic measures must be taken if the wood is to be saved from decay consequent
upon overcrowding. It was quite evident that the timber which had been removed
and which had been placed for removal in one of the openings, was of a very
poor description, and fit only for firewood, fencing-posts, and gate-posts.
The next part of the Forest examined was that by the straight, ugly path (known
as the "Clay-ride"), made many years ago, when it was desired to convert the
Forest into an "eligible building site." The party followed the path which skirts
the Loughton Valley. The northern side of this valley was almost cleared many
years ago, and attention was specially called to the natural growth which has
supervened, and comparison invited with the pollard grove on the opposite side,
which is typical of a large area of the Forest. At the eastern end of the "Clay-
ride," Mr. Buxton explained that the clearances made during the past season had
for their object the breaking up of the formal straight line, which marked the
edge of the old enclosure, by cutting "bays" here and there. It was here that
the criticism had been most directed, and it is perhaps an open question whether
the monotony of the straight lines of the ride might not have been better improved
away by a little judicious planting, rather than by making the bays. Striking
northward, the Loughton or "Cowper's" Camp was skirted, and the sites
of two recent fires were pointed out, and the young growth of birch and other trees
beginning to appear was a matter of much interest in connection with the renewal
of the Forest. The birch promises to be the predominant tree in all new
clearances. This, as Mr. Buxton remarked, is not to be regretted. It is an "all
the year round tree "of the greatest beauty, and it has the great merit of being
able to survive the injury caused by forest fires better than almost any other tree.
Still rambling northward, a visit was made to Monk Wood, inspected by the
Club in 1894 immediately after it had been thinned (see Essex Naturalist,
vol. viii., pp. 54-56), to allow of a judgment being formed of the effect of the
operations after the lapse of a year. The self-sown beeches were numerously in
evidence, and it is clear that, in many places at least, the Forest will renew
itself, if light and air are admitted, and the devastations of the cattle are restrained.
Time would not allow of a visit to Honey Lane Quarters, a wood consisting
mainly cf hornbeam pollards, very closely ranked, and situated on the slopes of
the hill overlooking the Lea Valley.
Tea was taken at the "King's Oak," after which A Meeting of the Club (the
156th) was held (the President in the chair) for the proposal of candidates for
membership, and to hear from Mr. E. N. Buxton particulars of his scheme for the
protection of certain birds in the Forest area. Mr. Buxton's remarks have already
1 The number of oaks varies from 50 to 160 per acre, and their diameter at three feel from
the ground is from ten to fourteen inches in the great majority of cases.