Forest Leaves – Summer 2012 The Newsletter of the Epping Forest Conservation Volunteers Please send any comments or contributions to the Editor at [email protected] To see this newsletter in colour and Mark Dewell’s conservation photo gallery, visit http://www.efcv.co.uk/ Contributions for the next newsletter should be in by Sunday 2 September ; it will be distributed on Sunday 30 September . For information regarding EFCV contact Peter Lyons (020 8529 3060) or Kevin Mason (020 8529 9273 / [email protected] ). For general information about Epping Forest please contact the Visitor Centre at High Beach (020 8508 0028). Dates for your diary: Sunday 24 June – Away Task at Two Tree Island; Saturday 18 August – Away Task at Working Woodland Day, Epping Forest Burial Park; Saturday 8 September – Countrycare ‘Fun in the Fields’ at Roding Valley Meadows. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Nine of us had a most interesting day at Warley Place on 31 I have seldom seen the grass and undergrowth of the Forest March. We are grateful to John Connell for spending two looking so lush. Of course the remarkably warm, dry spell in hours taking us around this remarkable reserve, telling us March – when there were gloomy predictions of another about its history, and showing us the work being done. We summer like 1976 – followed by six weeks of what seemed were able to see the plaque and the bench placed in the like continuous rain provided the ideal conditions for reserve to the memory of our friend and colleague Len vegetation. The Forest ponds, which in March were as low Dewell (see overleaf). Afterwards we adjourned to the as might be expected at the end of summer, are now mostly adjoining pub for an excellent lunch. Consideration might brimming full. This weather may not have suited much be given to another visit in the autumn to see it in another wildlife; reptiles and amphibians have probably not done season, if there is sufficient interest. well, as the dry weather might have dried up some spawn, while the rain had the opposite effect! Butterflies, which had Don’t forget we will be attending the big Working a poor time last year, have been pretty scarce so far, while Woodland Day event at the Epping Forest Burial Park on 18 honeybees are only now starting to appear; bumblebees August – hopefully as many people as possible will come seem less affected. along, and bring your friends and families! Talking of the latter it is good that an effort is being made to Peter Lyons reintroduce the short-haired bumblebee in the area on Romney Marsh where they were last found forty years ago. A number of species of bee are now either extinct or very rare in the UK, which is very worrying. Ray Reeves has some very unusual bumblebees at Coalhouse Fort, which are being carefully conserved. This has been a very interesting spring with some really good tasks. We have continued work at both ends of Rushey Plain, and there was a welcome return to Deershelter Plain. A considerable amount of intensive work has been done in the Sewardstone area, with more clearance undertaken to open up the Green, and the edges of Carroll’s Farm Pond cleared to provide access to the Pond itself. In the same area we have also visited Fernhills – always a popular site, where our work is really showing its benefits. Two tasks to open up the area around the Gypsy Smith stone in Walthamstow Forest have greatly improved it, while our two days coppicing willow at Fairmead Pond have made a start on what is likely to require a considerable amount of further work to complete the job. Another visit to the Nursery Fields site proved very enjoyable. A midweek task in March at Leyton Flats had to be put back to April to enable a visit to another site, and we will continue the work on the Flats in July. There was an exceptional turnout at Knighton Woods in May to clear bamboo (a first for the group!) and rhododendron from around the three remaining plants of royal fern by the lake; a start was also made on coppicing a large willow. Brian made us very welcome at Gernon Bushes in February, with our usual big bonfire and jacket potatoes, and we also had a splendid day at Lovelocks Meadow, Swaines Green, in March. Our summer task list kicks off with our regular balsam clearance at Honey Lane, followed by the first of a pair of visits to Long Running after a four-year gap. We also have two visits to Great Monk Wood, and a long-delayed return to Furze Ground. Naturally we will be working in a bog on International Bog Day! Hopefully it will be an enjoyable summer, with something for everyone. We will of course be going to Two Tree Island on 24 June and hope for a good Working Woodland Day at Epping Forest Burial Park turnout at this wonderful seaside site, where we can be proud of the results of our work over the last 25 years. VISIT TO WARLEY PLACE There are many trees of interest, some of which were 31 MARCH 2012 already there when the Willmotts took possession in 1875 and some that were planted during their occupation. Of Warley Place, once a very famous Edwardian garden those that predate the Willmotts, the row of seven sweet belonging to Ellen Willmott, is now maintained as a nature chestnuts is perhaps the most impressive. During our walk reserve by Essex Wildlife Trust. The house itself has long we saw Persian ironwood and a Californian myrtle – since gone but a walk around the paths reveals tantalising otherwise known as the ‘headache tree’ as its very strong glimpses of what the estate once comprised. There are aroma is reputed to affect some people although, strangely, exotic trees, remains of cold frames, greenhouses, if the leaves are infused it is claimed to cure headaches. An reservoirs, a terrace and the conservatory that was part of unusual Caucasian wingnut sits alongside an enormous the original building. Although there is colour all the year Turkey oak with ‘witches broom’ on one of its branches. round, by far the best time to visit is in the spring, when snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils and bluebells follow, overlap Overcast though it was, birds were singing and included and vie with each other in splendour. nuthatch, treecreeper, wren and woodpeckers. Miss Willmott indulged her passion for collecting and cultivating plants right up until her end in 1934. Her legacy still endures in the Latin inclusion willmottiae of many plant names. Soon after her death the estate was sold and her house demolished. Subsequent neglect transformed the garden into a jungle. In 1977 part of the estate (now the reserve) was leased to the Essex Wildlife Trust. It is down to the hard work and enthusiasm of its volunteers, including scrub-clearing and maintaining paths together with a thousand other and one jobs, that we can enjoy Warley Place today. Situated near the entrance is the Thatchers Arms and it seemed only right to sample their delicious hot food plus a few ales before making our journey home. Bench at Warlies dedicated to Len Dewell John Skerry Our visit, albeit on a cold and particularly bleak day, was well timed to coincide with vast swathes of daffodils. The most concentrated area, the so-called ‘daffodil bank’, is at the northeastern corner of the reserve, where the bulbs have increased to such an extent that they have to be thinned occasionally. There is a story that when the daffodil bulbs were planted in the meadows, the gardeners wheeled barrow-loads of bulbs out into the middle, where they were scattered by the gardeners’ children, after which they were planted where they fell. The sharp-eyed amongst us managed to pick out the delicate native fritillary in amongst the blaze of colour. John Connell (Chairman, Warley Place Management Committee) was our guide around the reserve. His knowledge and enthusiasm, plus amusing anecdotes concerning Miss Willmott, added to our visit. She only employed men in her garden, saying ‘women would be a disaster in the border’. The highlight for me was perhaps the walled garden. The walls and borders, lovingly restored by Len Dewell and his band of volunteers, gave off warmth even on this cold day. A fine Chusan palm and large Ginko tree added a tropical feel. Len Dewell’s many hours of work around the reserve are fondly remembered. Two plaques commemorate his fine restoration and re-pointing skills (see right), and at the entrance to the walled garden is a seat inscribed with his name (see above). Len’s plaque THE SAVING OF EPPING FOREST The decline of Epping as a royal hunting forest began shortly before the English Civil War. James I was a keen hunter, but Charles I not so much. However, both of them sought to make money out of the Forest by increasing its boundaries and extorting rents and fines. Travellers on foot or in carriages, as well as goods traffic, paid new tolls. Local farmers and commoners were not best pleased with their monarchs, as Charles was later to discover! During the Commonwealth, Cromwell appointed a commission to see how best the Forest might be improved and disposed of. This came to nought. After the Restoration the Forest courts and administration returned. This was effective in stopping most illegal enclosures, but not much else. Lack of interest on the part of the Crown and weak and corrupt administration, plus the demand for living space and farmland, eventually led to widespread encroachment.