40 EPPING FOREST.
tion, until High Beach is reached through the grove
of old beeches. It is popularly supposed that these
trees give the name to the place; this is an error,
the true meaning of the word being the High
Beach or Bank. This walk and those described
in Routes G and H are apt to be swampy. The
explorer should be well shod who undertakes them
in winter. There is no need for this precaution
in summer.
ROUTE G.
23/4 miles.
The corner of the thicket which approaches
nearest to Chingford Station lies due north of it;
a few yards to the right of the corner, a bell-
mouthed opening shows the entrance to a new
ride which has been lately cleared, and which leads
in a tolerably straight course (a little to the east
of north) to Fairmead Lodge, at the foot of
High Beach Hill. About 500 yards from where
the thicket is entered, the route leads at right
angles into a green glade called the Woodman's
Glade. Crossing this, the lower end of Ludgate
Plain, which may be recognised by the pictur-
esque half-timbered cottage at its upper extremity,
is soon reached. Ascending the slope on the
farther side of it, the path leads over a gentle rise
and through another thicket to a more extensive
plain known as the Almshouse Plain. From here
the wooded slopes of High Beach Hill, crowned
by the church spire, become visible in front. The
next open plain that is crossed is called Pair-
mead Bottom, and gives its name to the picturesque
Fairmead Lodge on the farther side of it—a well-