Loughton. After less than three years the farmer surrendered the
remainder of his lease but the Warren had by then become the
official residence and the Hawkwood Farm was used as a Lodge for
the Head Keeper. In 1886 the Conservators accepted a tender for the
lease of the farm from J.E. Earee who erected a large refreshment
pavilion which was opened to the public in 1887 in the year of Queen
Victoria's Golden Jubilee and gave rise to the name of the retreat. The
name still remains, although the premises have not been used for this
purpose since 1939. In 1907 the retreat changed hands, the purchaser
being J.T. Hanneford previously manager of the retreat. In a local guide
to Chingford and District by Bruce Cook, headmaster of the Church of
England School there, we find that the description is given as "John
Thomas Hanneford, late J.E. Earee and Co." and a similar note appeared
on the name board at the retreat. Mr. Hanneford married a widow, a
Mrs. Stevens who had a son by her previous marriage. Apparently Mr.
Hanneford died sometime between 1912 and 1917 for in the latter year
Mrs. Sarah Frances Hanneford was the proprietress. During the First
World War the retreat was occupied by troops of the Royal Canadian
Flying Corps who used Chingford aerodrome for flying training. This
aerodrome was situated where the Girling Reservoir is now located.
When Mrs. Hanneford retired sometime after 1922 the retreat was con-
tinued by the son Charles Samuel Stevens. It was he who obtained the
helter-skelter and had it transported from Folly Retreat at Hadley Wood
to the Jubilee Retreat. At this retreat, too, there was a steam driven
"galloper", and provision for donkey and pony rides, swings and
similar activities. During the period from about 1928 or 1929 until the
outbreak of war a portion of the retreat was used by Mrs. Wilkinson
as a riding school and stables. Soon after the outbreak of war in 1939
the retreat was closed and in 1940 was requisitioned for the use of
refugees who were visited by Charles de Gaulle. However, in 1941, it
was taken over by the Ministry of Aircraft Production engaged in
making various parts. At the close of hostilities, when the Ministry
vacated the premises, they were converted into flats for the
accommodation of forest staff, and the pavilion and other buildings
into changing rooms for the use of players using the football pitches
on Chingford Plain.
Another retreat at Chingford was Butlers. This was opened in
1891. Prior to that date a Mrs. Harriet Watkins, whose son was a
Forest Keeper, lived in Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge and used the
Lodge and its garden for the provision of teas. As the Lodge was to be
open for inspection by visitors to the forest it often happened that the
press of those taking teas in the Lodge precluded the admission of
sightseers and in 1887 Mrs. Watkins took over the adjacent barn for
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