30 



THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB : REPORTS OF 



MEETINGS. 



IN SUPPORT OF THE SCHEME FOR THE RE-AFFORES- 

 TATION OF PART OF OLD HAINHAULT FOREST. 



Saturday, June i4rH, 1902. 



THE details of Mr. Buxton's grand movement and h> ])rc.sent i^osition are dealt 

 wirli in a se])arate article. 



On this day a meeting, organised by the Club at Mr. Buxton's request, was 

 held for a public inspection of the woods and lands j)roposed to be re-afForested in 

 Lambourne and Hainhault forests. 



A very large number of invitations had been sent to members of the Essex 

 County Council, the West Ham Town Council, and the Councils of Barking, 

 Ilford, Woodfoid, Buckhurst Hill, Wanstead, Leytonstone. Leyton, Walthamstow, 

 Chingford, and to members of the Commons Preservation Society ; to the Press ; 

 to gentlemen known to be favourable to open spaces ; and to the body of members 

 of the Club. 



C(mveyances were in attendance at Stratford, Ilford, Woodford, &c., and the 

 first rendezvous was at Grange Hill, Chigwell, to inspect the piece of well-wooded 

 land of about 70 acres, which is included in the scheme. 



Unfortunately the weather for days previous, and on the day of the meeting for 

 ])art of the time, was exceedingly bad, and although at least 200 visitors were ex- 

 ])ected, only about 80 attended the meeting. The Conductor was Mr. E. X. 

 Buxton, who exerted himself to the utmost to explain his plans and ideas. 



Leaving Grange Hill, the ride was continued through Chigwell Row, past 

 the well-known '* Beehive " Inn, and the Lambourne Forest was entered at Crab- 

 tree Hill. 



The Times of June I7tli gave an excellent report of the meeting, "from our 

 Sjiecial Conespondent," and we cannot do better than quote from it, omitting those 

 ])aragraphs descriptive of the scheme itself, \vhich are unnecessary in view of the 

 ]:)aper in another j^art of the present number : 



" The fine idea of re-creating Hainhault Porest and adding it to Epping for an 

 East London play-ground, bids fair to be realised in no long time. It has excited 

 much interest, which was })ut to a severe practical test on Saturday, when a party 

 of over 80, including three or four courageous ladies, faced the weather at the 

 invitation of the Essex Field Club and tramped (n'er the ground under the guidance 

 of Mr. E. X. Buxton, the Verderer of Epping Forest. They will not forget it. 

 The day may have struck }:)eople as rather wet elsewhere — at Lord's cricket ground, 

 for instance — but the wetness of the forest in a rainy season is a thing apart, not to 

 be measured by ordinary standards or encountered in ordinary clothes. The turf 

 was a si:)onge, every tree and bush a shower-bath, every hollow a pond, and all the 

 little grassy water-courses, that have been dry season after season tor years, were 

 swift running streams. But ^Ir. Buxton spared the visitors nothing and they 

 shirked nothing. f\)r the best part of three hours they tramjjed the turf, jumjied 

 the water-courses, jilodged through the ponds, squelched through the mud, and 

 scrambled through the bushes, not without damage, but with unflagging interest 

 and good humour. It does not sounti enjoyable, but it was. Nobody grumbled, 



