EPPING FOREST
ITS TOPOGRAPHY
" I advise them to study large-scale maps."
The Marquis of Salisbury.
The routes which I have attempted to describe
in the following pages lead through what I con-
sider, after roaming through the Forest all my
life, to be its most beautiful glades and thickets,
but I by no means claim to have exhausted its
charms. On the contrary, even with the intimate
knowledge of every part which I have acquired,
I almost daily light on some picture which I have
never before observed. Still more will the dis-
cerning visitor be constantly tempted to diverge
from the lines I have indicated, and discover fresh
scenes for himself. That he will be amply repaid
I do not doubt.
I have, as a rule, avoided the more formal
roads, and sought the by-ways, where nature has
had the freest play, and in these, owing to the
absence of landmarks visible from the denser
thickets, it is difficult to give clear and unmis-
takable directions. The numerous tracks which
intersect one another are trodden out aimlessly
by cattle, and are consequently more confusing
than useful as definite guides. It is, therefore,
probable that many will wander from the trail
without intending to do so. To those who are
not blessed with a bump of locality, and who fail
to follow my descriptions, I commend a close
attention to the maps, which are, I think, as clear
and accurate as it is possible for the scale of 3
inches to a mile to be.