6 May: Epping Forest

On this date in 1882 Queen Victoria dedicated Epping Forest to the use of the people for all time. 10 things you might not know about Epping Forest, an area of woodland, on the border of Essex and Greater London.

1. The forest covers an area of 2,476 hectares, or just under 6,000 acres, making it the largest open space in the London area. It is 18 kilometres (11 miles) long, but at no point is it wider than 4 kilometres (2.5 miles). 60% of it has been designated an area of special scientific interest.
2. Epping Forest lies on a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Lea and Roding. Its elevation and thin gravelly soil (the result of glaciation) made it unsuitable for agriculture.
3. We know from the pollen found in bog samples that the area has been covered in trees for over 3,000 years, although not necessarily the same kinds of trees found there now. Flint tools have been found, and there are a couple of Iron Age forts dating to around 500 BC at Ambresbury Banks and Loughton Camp.
4. In medieval times, Forest Law was introduced to safeguard the King’s right to hunt game in the Forest. While commoners could collect firewood and graze their animals, only the king could hunt there. The commoners' rights are still in operation today - cattle still graze around the area and although it is rarely practised now, residents of the local area have the right to collect "one faggot of dead or driftwood" per day per adult resident. Queen Elizabeth I had a hunting lodge in the forest.
5. Epping Forest is well known for its huge, thick trees which are unique to the area. Many of the trees were pollarded at one time or another to aid growth, but since the Epping Forest Act was passed at the end of the 19th century they have been allowed to grow naturally.
6. Many of the pools and ponds in the forest are bomb craters dating from the Second World War. The forest was also the site of anti-aircraft guns, air raid shelters and anti-tank trenches.
7. The forest has inspired many artists and writers. Charles Dickens begins his novel Barnaby Rudge with a description of it; horror writer James Herbert used Epping Forest as the setting for his novel Lair in which a horde of giant black rats establish a colony there. Mary Wollstonecraft, T E Lawrence, Alfred Lord Tennyson and sculptor Jacob Epstein all lived there at some time in their lives. More recently, the rock band Genesis included a track called The Battle of Epping Forest on their album, Selling England by the Pound. The track is about an East End gang-fight which actually happened.
8. The forest has been a filming location for at least 13 films including Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
9. Highwayman Dick Turpin had a hideout in the forest, which is said to be haunted by his ghost to this day. Ghost hunters Yvette Fielding and Derek Acorah went looking for Turpin's ghost in the Most Haunted Live New Year Special in 2003/2004. The team got lost in the forest and had to be rescued by a ranger.
10. There are several spots in the forest which are believed to be haunted. On certain nights, groaning and drumming can be heard near the Iron Age hill fort at Loughton Camp; the Wake Arms roundabout is an accident blackspot where numerous ghosts have been seen including headless bikers and a girl who drowned near the King's Oak pub who runs out in front of cars and then disappears; on Hangman's Hill there is said to be an ancient tree where three innocent men were once hung, and there's a ghost of a man which is sometimes seen there. The hill has an eerie property in which the road at the bottom appear to be going upwards when in fact it goes downwards, so cars can appear to roll up the hill if the brakes are off. According to legend, they are being pulled up the hill towards the hangman's tree. Hooded figures carrying lanterns have been seen near the Church of the Holy Innocents; there's a secret pond somewhere in the forest known as the Suicide Pool where two lovers used to meet - the girl was murdered by her father and her lover killed himself. Since then the pool is believed to have dark powers which can induce people to kill themselves. It may be merely a legend, but the authorities are taking no chances. The exact whereabouts of the pool have never been revealed.

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

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Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two