129
WOODLAND RAMBLE AND VISIT TO YARDLEY
HILL, EPPING FOREST.
Saturday, June 10th, 1899.
This meeting represented our usual Spring Forest Ramble, the late
unseasonable and inclement weather having led to its postponement.
The party met at Loughton Station about 3 o'clock, and walked across
the Forest by Strawberry (? Starberry) Hill ponds, High Beach, and Hill
Wood (near which the site of Fairmead Lodge, recently demolished, was
pointed out (see vol. x., p. 296, and ante p. 56). On the way, the refreshing
"leafiness" of the forest trees was much commented upon. The cold
weather in May appeared to have been very unfavourable to the larvae of
Cheimatobia and Hybernia, of which there were few this spring—a great
contrast with some recent years, in which they were so numerous and their
ravages so enormous that many trees were almost stripped bare by the
beginning of June. It was evident that this year all the trees would make
wood abundantly. Meanwhile the forest was looking its loveliest ; all the
greens were bright and fresh.
Crossing part of the "mead," the road up Leppits Hill was taken, and a
little beyond the "Owl" (well-known to London entomologists) the party
turned into a most pleasant sloping meadow, crowded with flowers, amongst
which the great quantity of the pretty Umbellifer, the Burnet Saxifrage
(Pimpinella saxifraga), specially attracted attention. The footpath running
along the edge of the ridge afforded capital views, extending to St. Paul's
Cathedral, and—in clear days—to the Crystal Palace. The latter was not
visible on the day of the meeting, and St. Paul's shone out only for a short
time, because, although the day was fine and delightful for a country ramble,
there was a haze in the distance. A pleasant walk by Gillwell Farm, through
Gillwell Lane, led to Yardley Hill, a timbered ridge which projects into the
Lea Valley. It is the latest gift of our Vice-President, Mr. E. N. Buxton,
J.P., Verderer, and was formally dedicated as part of the Forest by the Duke
of Connaught, Ranger, on June 1st, and details of this splendid addition are
given in another article in the present part (ante p. 78).
Tea was served in a tent erected on the summit of a hill, by kind permis-
sion of Mr. F. F. McKenzie, the Superintendent of the Forest, allowing of
most varied and extended views over the wide Lea Valley and the surrounding
woodlands. The spot was that on which the ceremony of dedication of the
hill was performed on the 1st of June.
After tea the President, Mr. Howard, said that absence from England
prevented Mr. Buxton from being present with them that day. They had
had a good opportunity of appreciating the beauty and value of Mr. Buxton's
most welcome addition to the Forest, and he proposed that the Club should
pass a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Buxton for his generosity and public
spirit, so often shown for the welfare of the Forest. This vote was passed by
acclamation.
Mr. Cole called attention to the special Report on Queen Elizabeth's
Lodge, and the Club's Museum there, which had been recently presented to
the Court of Common Council of the City of London by the Epping Forest