Hatfield Forest

Now I know strictly speaking Hatfield Forest in Essex isn't in the Greater London area. However, it's only half a mile away from London's third airport, Stansted, and is not far at all for anyone in north east London. Plus it's a very unique and special place; one which I have enjoyed a lot since I was a wee babba. It's an ancient hunting forest that has been managed by humans for probably about a thousand years. Despite this, the ecology of the forest is pretty pristine and the character of the forest hasn't changed for hundreds of years. Running through it's centre and eastern side are large, open areas of 'wood pasture' (basically grassland with little groves of trees and large, solitary trees). Around this swarms the forest, which is coppiced and has a very Medieval ambience. In the middle of the 1,000 acres or so is a lake with a cafe and shop. Having a main car park and a couple of small ones on the side as well makes it very accessible by car, as does the fact that it is only a few minutes drive from junction 8 of the grand highway that is the M11.

A typical area of open grassland edged by closed woodland

At this time of year the forest is awash with colour and greenery. The closed woodland is a tangle of trees, undergrowth and things in between, and the wood pasture is filed with wildflowers such as buttercups and speedwells. Birdsong is an ever present feature (as too are planes taking off from the airport, but I'm sure you can just pretend you don't see or hear them) and it seems the forest is bursting with life. Which of course it is! Wildlife is abundant at Hatfield Forest. There are foxes, badgers, weasels, loads of rabbits, as well as large numbers of fallow deer and some very shy little muntjac deer. The fallow deer are not often seen by visitors during the day, however early in the morning and late at night they are not too hard to spot in the forest and indeed the surrounding area, and it is also possible to spot them in the more remote and secluded areas of the forest in the day. 

One of the more commonly seen creatures at the forest: a grey squirrel.

Other inhabitants of the forest include the Red Poll cattle that are allowed to graze and roam freely around the forest as they may well have done in the Middle Ages. At this time of year the herds have calves with them and it's definitely a good idea to keep a reasonable distance between yourself and these calves, as the mothers can be a little tetchy when people get too close to them. Keep an eye out for the bulls as well, as they are there with the cows and calves too. As long as you don't go running up to them screaming and shouting, and keep your dogs on a lead around them (and don't wave red rags in front of the bulls), you'll be fine. The cattle graze the open areas and so keep them open. This is how the mosaic nature of the wood pasture is maintained. Sometimes sheep are used for this also, but I've never seen any sheep in the forest myself. 

The resident Red Poll cattle marching across a sward.

One of the bulls with the classic nose ring. Looks like a bit of a brute.

There are some young trees (mainly oaks) that have been protected from the appetites of the cattle and the deer by fencing. When walking around, you can see many old, dead trees in the wood pasture, as well as some smaller, younger trees growing near the fringes of the closed woodland. A Dutch chap called Frans Vera came up with an interesting and revolutionary idea a few years ago that might go some way to explaining this cycle of life and death. He said that naturally (ie before humans started sticking their oars in, so a few thousand years ago probably in western Europe), grazing animals like cattle and deer would have driven succession cycles in woodlands. He thought that if these grazers were left to it, they would create a mosaic landscape of small groves of trees, open areas with solitary trees, and closed woodland. What would happen is in open areas scrub vegetation would grow (due to the ground being turned over by trampling animals and rooting wild boar) and trees would be able to grow within this scrub, as the grazers wouldn't be able to get to the succulent young trees. Then the trees would eventually shade out the scrub. This tree might be solitary in an open area, or it might be with others in a grove. This may all depend on other factors such as soil, drainage, aspect, etc. Large animals would gather around these trees due to the shade and potential food, and eventually they would kill the tree through trampling the ground around it and scratching on the trunks, or they may die through other means. However it happens, these older trees would die, opening up the ground again and so the process restarts. 

A dead tree with crows on it... how apt.

A tree growing within an area of thorny scrub. It's possible that this thorny scrub allowed this tree to grow free from the attention of deer and cattle.

I'm not sure if it can be said that this process is taking place at Hatfield Forest as a whole, as the cattle (and most likely the deer) are managed, controlled and not subject to the constrictions of nature as much as they would be if completely wild. However, in parts you can see evidence of this process in the more open areas. 

The closed forest.

 Hatfield Forest is a fascinating and enthralling place which sucks you in. When on your lonesome in the woods and the fields, you could almost believe you were back in Norman England, surrounded by unseen deer, wild boar and other such quarry. Then suddenly you spot a plane overhead and realise you're in the 21st century. However, get into the quiet of the green wood again and you're back in the past. It's almost like this ancient forest has been crafted to look as Medieval as is possible. In some ways, over hundreds of years, it has.

The lake at Hatfield Forest.