Something for everyone at Hainault Forest centenary
An ambitious all-day programme has been unveiled to mark the Hainault Forest centenary, prompting organisers to predict big crowds at Hainault Forest Country Park, near Chigwell, Essex, when the long-awaited celebration gets underway at 11am on July 15.
Hainault Forest was formally dedicated to the public on 21 July 1906, by the then President of the Board of Agriculture, Earl Carington. It followed a lengthy campaign by Edward North Buxton, to ensure the site was put in public hands and the centre piece of Saturday’s celebration will see descendants of both men - Earl Carington’s nephew Lord Carrington and Edward North Buxton’s grandson John Buxton - along with the Mayor of the London Borough of Redbridge officially open the event.
Mayor of Redbridge, Councillor Mr Ashok Kumar said: “Mr Buxton launched a successful fundraising campaign in 1903 and persuaded the local authorities of the day to buy Hainault Forest and safeguard it for local people to enjoy. Now 100 years on, thanks to their unstinting efforts, this green gem, which I count as among Greater London’s best kept secrets, still stands for us all to enjoy. It is a constant reminder that we must remain vigilant and ensure this living legacy survives the pressures of the 21st century and is still here in another 100 years’ time.”
Timetable of activities:
• Event opens at 11am.
• From 11am to 12.10pm, the Red FM roadshow will be compering the singing and dancing activities from a host of organisations. The morning’s performers include PB's Wildhorse Linedance, Honey's Dance Academy, PB's Wildhorse Linedance, Gujarati, Jam Dance, Flowers of Redbridge, Gymactive – Tabla, Radha Ka Song, Alexandra School. They will be followed by Danielle, Gymactive, Dance Factory, Desi Angels, Move It, Angel School of Dance.
• Shortly after 11am entries for 32-class dog show and scurry will also open.
• Elsewhere there will be a wide variety of stalls, swing boats, ring the bell challenges and other traditional fairground games.
• Kite workshops and kite-flying sessions take place.
• There will also be football, cricket, orienteering and archery workshops.
• There will be a Redbridge Museum exhibition featuring the history of Hainault Forest.
• Throughout the day there will also be nature trails and environmental games.
• Train trips through the park plus shire horse and carriage rides.
• Morris dancing.
• Punch and Judy shows.
• Refreshments.
• Photographic competition and exhibition of old photos.
• Dog show judging gets underway from midday.
• Between 12.30pm and 5pm staff from mobile chat show Talkaoke will be touring country park to gauge and record visitors’ views.
• From 2.15pm, John Tucker of The Woodland Trust, will outline the charity’s multi-million pound acquisition of Havering Park Farm.
• He will be followed by speeches from the London Borough of Redbridge Mayor Councillor Ashok Kumar, Lord Carrington and John Buxton.
• From 2.45pm to 4.40pm, Redbridge Music School will provide concert music.
• Senior Woodland Trust staff will be hosting a guided walk through Hainault Forest from 4pm.
• Dog show prize giving gets underway from 4.45pm.
• At 5pm the afternoon’s performances are rounded of with a pipers’ performance.
• Event closes at 5.30pm
During the day, event organisers the Woodland Trust and London Borough of Redbridge, will also unveil new full-colour booklet The History and Ecology of Hainault Forest. It is packed with scores of facts, anecdotes and observations from a host of local residents and nature-lovers and will be on sale at a price of £1.50 a copy.
The event has been sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund and BT. BT kindly sponsored the Woodland Trust reception and presentation. The Woodland Trust would also like to thank the numerous individuals and organisations that have supported this event including the London Borough of Redbridge, Essex County Council, Epping Forest District Council and Epping Forest Country Care.
About our partners:
The London Borough of Redbridge: A key event partner. For more please visit its website at www.redbridge.gov.uk
Heritage Lottery Fund: The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy. It has supported more than 16,500 projects, allocating over £3.3 billion across the UK.
BT: BT is a key event partner. The Woodland Trust is working in partnership with BT and for every customer who switches to online billing, tree saplings are being planted throughout the UK. This will help the Woodland Trust create much needed new woodland and protect our established and ancient woodland, which provides home to more species of plants, insects, fungi and wildlife than almost any other habitat. Since June 2005, BT and the Woodland Trust have planted over 140,000 trees - the equivalent of 218 football pitches. Help us do more by simply signing up to paper-free billing with BT log on to www2.bt.com/woodlandtrust
Biffaward: The Woodland Trust’s acquisition of Park Farm Havering has been part-funded by Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT), which utilises landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services. In December 1997, Biffa Waste Services agreed to donate landfill tax credits to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) to administer under the fund name Biffaward. Grants made from the fund currently amount to more than £70 million, supporting many worthwhile environmental projects.
Biffa is a part of Severn Trent Plc and is one of the largest single suppliers of waste management services in the UK. It collects, treats, recovers and disposes of municipal, commercial and industrial waste nationwide and in Belgium.
GrantScape: The Woodland Trust’s acquisition of Park Farm Havering has also been part-funded by Grantscape. It is an environmental grant-making charity. Its aim is to work with communities nationwide in funding projects that have benefit to the local environment. While GrantScape is a new organisation, its heritage lies in the eight years of experience it has with smaller grant-making organisations, which have been consolidated under the one GrantScape name. As a result, the staff at GrantScape have been involved with grant-making since 1997 and to date have been responsible for the management and administration of over £60 million in grants throughout England and Wales. For more log on to www.grantscape.org.uk
WREN: The Woodland Trust’s acquisition of Park Farm Havering has also been part-funded by Wren. It distributes landfill tax money to community and environmental projects within 10 miles of landfill sites owned and operated by Waste Recycling Group Ltd. Projects applying for grants from WREN are assessed by an individual panel of locally based experts for their suitability, sustainability and community benefit. Resource: www.wren.org.uk The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS) gives waste operators the opportunity to divert a proportion of their annual Landfill Tax bill into the communities and environments around landfill sites. To date the LTCS has funded almost 20,000 projects with £3/4 billion pounds in funding. On-line resources at either www.ltcs.org.uk or www.entrust.org.uk
Waste Recycling Group Limited is one of the UK's leading waste management and energy recovery companies and handles in excess of 15 million tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste each year. Around 50% of Waste Recycling Group’s business is accounted for by waste management contracts with more than 70 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales. The Company operates facilities for the reception, recycling and disposal of waste, including a network of waste transfer and recycling centres and strategically-situated landfill sites, and is one of the largest operators of civic amenity sites on behalf of local authorities for use by the general public. For more log on to www.wrg.co.uk
