Our exciting five year Heritage Lottery funded Branching Out project began in 2009 to help bring the past to life and preserve the Forest.
Heritage
Epping Forest trees have seen many centuries come and go. To bring this history alive we have:
An Orange Rock Corps volunteer
Access
We are improving access for everyone to get to and enjoy the Forest by:
Trees
A programme of management for our 1200 veteran trees has begun - the most ancient tree is more than 400 years old. We have purchased specialist equipment and we will employ 15 apprentice arborists over the next five years.
Branching Out Project Update
Spring/Summer 2013
The weather is still pretty changeable as we start to head towards summer, but the wildlife and in particular the flora of the Forest are beginning to flourish. The Bluebells at Wanstead Park have once again been spectacular this year and if you are planning to visit, you can find out more by reading our Wanstead Park flyer (442 kb).
Visitor Survey
The 2013 survey season is now underway and you can have your say by completing this years questionnaire survey.
If you'd like to read more about our visitor survey and how it improves our knowledge of the Forest, you can now read the Epping Forest 2012 Visitor Survey report (763 kb).
You can now see an update of the actions we are undertaking on some of our sites as a result of the findings from the first two years of the survey by checking out our outcomes and actions document (1.7 mb).
Cattle Grids and Grazing Cattle update
Working with Essex County Council Highways, the City of London will begin work in early June to install four cattle grids, which will be located on Rangers Road, Cross Roads, Forest Side and Wake Road. This work forms part of the Epping Forest Transport Strategy agreed four years ago following extensive public consultations. For more information, visit our Forest Transport Strategy page or find the latest updates on the Essex County Council website.
Our Grazing Cattle are now out in the sunshine munching through the huge amounts of grass that has sprung up in the last month. They are currently out on one of our buffer land farms at Copped Hall, but will soon be moving on to the Forest to help maintain our wood pastures. Four longhorn cows and a bull, along with our new addition of four calves can be seen in the fields at our office at The Warren though.
Way Marked Trails
Why not get out and see what signs of spring you can see by checking out our Six Way Marked Trails around the Forest. The Seventh, the Oak Trail at Theydon Bois, is planned for 2013. We are considering the addition of some new waymark trails, with the first new route planned for Lords Bushes and Knighton Woods. We'd appreciate your opinion on whether you think this site needs a waymark trail to help people find their way around. You can let us know through our waymark survey.
To find your nearest walk, check our new location map (746 kb), then download the details for your chosen trail from the Walking page.
Shuttle Bus Update
Unfortunately there is a significant delay in the provision of the Sunday Bus Service (Route 845) as the previous supplier of bus and driver sadly could not commit citing budget cuts.
This has left the City of London Corporation looking for a new service partner and this is proving to be difficult. We are still in talks with private coach companies as the City of London Corporation remains committed to try to establish this service during 2013.
Landscaping Works
Work is now underway to improve Jubilee Pond, on Wanstead Flats, for both nature and visitors. We'll be working to fix the leak in the pond as well as improving the access and landscaping.
As part of the landscaping works at Connaught Water, the Boardwalk was unveiled on 3 November 2012. A timelapse video of the building of the boardwalk has been produced, showing the numerous groups of enthusiastic volunteers who assisted on the project.
Keystone Trees
With the advent of spring comes the start of the bird-nesting season, and to limit disturbance our arborists work less on pollarding our Keystone Trees and concentrate on maintaining paths and making dangerous trees safe.
Volunteer Epping Forest
If you too would like to become a volunteer with Epping Forest, we have a dedicated volunteer webpage with all the information needed including role descriptions and an online enrolment form. Why not have a look? You can get involved in every aspect of Forest Management from looking after our Veteran trees to helping people in our Visitor Centres.
For further information on any of the Branching Out projects please email the Community Liaison Officer Andrew Harby at epping.forest@cityoflondon.gov.uk or Tel 020 8532 1010.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) granted £4.76m towards the implementation of the £6.8m Branching Out project. The remaining money is coming from the City of London, Essex County Council and other key project partners.