Sandwiched between Windsor Road gardening and the boys looking for a good time drinking at the Woodbine, I walked from Epping Information centre to the pub, meeting the boys (Barry and Dave) half way – amazingly we found each other.
Sunday the wood was full of families, walking, or on cycles, with and without maps. The dogs and I went off track, drawn from one to the next of the giant elephants of beech trees, old pollards. The grey skin wrinkled and gnarled up to the pollard, after which it was classic smooth.
I met an enthusiastic volunteer at the centre, Georgina Green who had written a couple of books on Epping (found here http://www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk/ggeppingetc.pdf) who outlined the soil basis in Epping when I said I was in search of Oak and Hornbeam.
‘Here to the north the soil is lighter, less clay, so more beech.’
‘Ah, so i’ll enjoy the beech then’.
Which I did.
The Woodbine, traditional old fashioned pub, Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 3QT.
Kaliwood 