47
EPPING FOREST RAMBLE, FAIRMEAD,
26TH JUNE, 1988
The day started off wet and rather overcast as
the small group of Field Club stalwarts,
meeting at the Epping Forest Conservation
Centre, decided what best to do in the way of
insect and spider recording. It was obviously
going to be yet another rather damp summers
day.
In the event, a walk around Fairmead Bottom was
decided upon, with everything to be looked
at. Our first stop was by the car park on
Fairmead Bottom and our first item of botanical
interest was the wild service tree, right by
the entrance to the car park! This tree, with
its rather attractive maple—like leaves is
actually a member of the rose family (near to
the whitebeams and rowans). It is not
uncommon in Epping Forest, but is rather less
frequently met with the further north and west
you go. I think it is known from only single
specimens, or none at all, in counties such as
Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Also the site of
the old Fairmead Lodge and Fairmead Oak were
noted, both well known landmarks in Epping
Forest, the lodge up to the very late 19th
century and the Fairmead Oak until it was burnt
down in 1955. Near the car park on the other
side of Fairmead Lane are, however, two very
fine and large oak pollards not quite rivalling
the girth of the Fairmead Oak, but both with
girths (at about 4' 6" off ground level) in
excess of 16'. One, I believe, is over 18'!
From the wooded area, noting butchers broom in
passing, we walked out onto the open grassy
expanse of Fairmead, now regularly mown to keep