On Thursday, in the drenching rain, the Corporation of London
paid a State visit to Epping Forest. Some 140 close carriages, conveying Members of the Corporation and their guests, followed by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, in all the splendour of gilt coaches and belated footmen, proceeded from the Snaresbrook Station, on the Woodford and Loughton line, by a circuitous route through some of the prettiest parts of the Forest, past the King's Oak at High Beech, to Fairmead Lodge, in the grounds of which a noble marquee had been erected. Here a breakfast, provided on the usual lavish scale of City entertainments, was duly disposed of, to the sweet strains of a Guards' band, and was followed by a aeries of toasts more or leas relating to the preservation of the Forest, and the essential service rendered by the City in that work. Mr. Shaw Lefevre, in proposing the toast of the day, gave an interest- ing sketch of the earlier efforts to arrest the appropriation of the Forest, and warmly commended the scheme which the City propose for the restoration of enclosures, and the future management of the 5,000 acres which will thus be dedicated to the public enjoyment. It is gratifying to observe that those who are doing similar good service in other places were not forgotten. A toast to the Commons Preservation Society, the New Forest Associa- tion, and other bodies interested in securing open spaces, concluded the list, and was cleverly responded to by Mr. Briscoe Eyre, of the New Forest. In spite of the rain, the chief object of the City, to show how really beautiful a place they are striving for, was probably gained. Doubtless many who had their first glimpse of the Forest yesterday will visit it again under more favourable conditions.
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