50 EPPING FOREST.
to Staple's Pond; here turn to the right along the
road for 200 yards. By the pound ascend the
grass slope on the left to a group of fir-trees at the
top. From here a lane leads along the crest of
Baldiwin's Hill for half a mile, and commands an
extensive view of the densely wooded Loughton
Manor. This would be still more interesting if it
were not for the reckless and unsparing pollarding
to which nearly the whole of this otherwise beauti-
ful wood has been subjected, and which gives it
the effect of having been mown with a scythe. It
will require many years of careful attention to the
most promising pollards, which are here extraordi-
narily numerous, before it resumes its natural
aspect. Monk Wood, which has not been so mal-
treated, is a conspicuous object. Its billowing
mass of tall trees rises like an island above the
rest. Some sections of the slope of Baldwin's
Hill, in the immediate foreground, were cleared of
trees a few years ago, with a view to enclosure. A
marked effect of this denudation is seen at one
spot near the end of the ridge. The whole
hillside, which is composed of viscous clay, no
longer supported by the roots of trees, has com-
menced to slip down towards the stream below,
producing cracks and fissures and other features
in close imitation of an ice stream in the Alps.
By Goldings Hill Ponds turn to the left along the
Loughton and Epping roads, passing Monk Wood
on the left. At the Wake Arms six roads con-
verge. The one we have traversed leads from
Loughton; the next in order, on the left, from
Woodford and London; the third from High
Beach; the fourth from Waltham Abbey; the fifth
from Epping; and the sixth from Theydon. Fol-