30
DEDICATION OF HAINHAULT FOREST.
the movement from its initiation, and said that the London County Council
received the proposal in a very generous spirit. They had not only given £10,000,
but had undertaken to maintain the Forest for ever. He thought they were not
too soon in having acquired the Forest, having regard to the rapid growth of
the towns surrounding it. There were 250,000 people already living within five
miles of Hainhault Forest. Steps had already been taken to secure, for a
cricket ground and a public open space, 76 acres of land nearer to the railway,
and he hoped the London County Council would in the future link it up with
Hainhault Forest. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Henry Ward (Vice-Chairman of the Council) moved a vote of thanks to
the President of the Board of Agriculture and the Countess Carrington for their
presence at the dedication ceremony.
Mr. E. Baxter Format!, J.P. (Deputy Chairman of the Council), seconded,
and Earl Carrington replied.
Mr. J. Bodger (Chairman of the Ilford District Council) moved a vote of
thanks to Mr. Evan Spicer, J.P. (Chairman of the Council), and Mr. H. W.
Littler (Deputy Mayor of West Ham) seconded.
Mi. Spicer having replied, the inaugural proceedings ended.
At the kind invitation of Mr. Frederick Green, J.P., and Mrs. Green,
the principal members of the company were sumptuously entertained at
"Hainault Lodge," near Hog-Hill, at the S.W. corner of the Forest. The
Lodge is a building of some two centuries old and has a finely wainscoted room
or two of that period. Hence there is a delightful view over the forest towards
Chigwell, the Church spire being just discernible on the horizon. Each guest
received a little souvenir of their visit in the form of views representing
interesting localities in Hainhault—one was of a hut in the middle of the forest
where the oaks are remarkably fine; the second, of the keeper's lodge, Hog-
Hill House, about a mile from the preceding locality; and yet another, of the
famous Fairlop Oak, one of the forest giants, as it appeared some sixty years
since.
And so ended a memorable gathering, which embodied in
inspiriting actuality the almost despairing aspirations of many
years—a day on which a cruel public wrong of 60 years ago was
in some measure redressed in the triumphal restoration of much
of the old forest to the people.