The Essex Naturalist
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wilderness was also covered in a similar manner; this is shown as Area 6 in Fig.
1. Fences were erected temporarily around these areas to protect the seeds that
were sown here. The seeds were the same as those used on the 8.5 acre site.
Epping Forest signposts were erected at the main entrance points to the site
indicating that (apart from Redbridge's field) the whole area was now part of the
Forest.
Redbridge Field
This land lay almost unused until about 1994. The relatively few people that
used it did so for such activities as family ball-games, dog-exercising and golf
practice. A cycle track was laid across the field early in 1996. Making use of the
existing access route to the field from Wanstead Park Road in Ilford and using
an existing track from Empress Avenue which was the main entrance to the
Sewage Works when in use, the cycle track now connects Ilford with the
Aldersbrook area of Manor Park. The locked gate by the riding stables was
replaced in July by a simple vehicle barrier. This enhanced access to the field,
together with an increasing awareness of its amenity value, has increased the
number of people that use it.
It is kept well mown and the plant life is that commonly associated with a
rough lawn, such as daisy Bellis perennis, the plantains Plantago major and P.
lanceolata, and dandelion Taraxacum officinale. On the bank separating it from
the bridle path, the vegetation is less disturbed and here may be found fennel
Foeniculum vulgare, oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, meadow Vetchling
Lathyrus pratensis and hairy tare Vicia hirsuta.
The 8.5 Acre Site
The 8.5 acre site was the western part of the original sewage works, separated
from the rest by the London Borough of Redbridge's "field". The site is shown in
Fig. 1 as Areas 1, 2, 3 and The Wood. The boundary between the area and
Wanstead Park to the north is an earth bank of some two or three metres height
surmounted until late 1993 by a high wire fence. The fence has now been
removed, and the bank is becoming something of a footpath. Trees grow both
on and either side of much of the bank, forming a shelter between the open
aspect of the sewage works and the more wooded nature of the Park.
Many of these trees are either mature or more commonly sapling sycamore
Acer pseudoplatanus and also hawthorn Crataegus monogyna. There are some
pedunculate oaks Quercus robur, large and small specimens of wild cherry Prunus
avium, some elm Ulmus sp. suckers and much elder Sambucus nigra. There are
one or two seedling horse chestnuts Aesculus hippocastanum at the eastern end,
probably from a mature tree by the Ornamental Waters in the Park. Just on the
sewage works side of the bank can be found bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta,
ground ivy Glechoma hederacea, hogweed Heracleum sphondylium, cleavers Galium