On this day, Queen Victoria made a royal visit to Chingford, a town about 14 km north-east of London and bordering on the southern side of Epping Forest. During her visit, the Queen declared, “It gives me the greatest satisfaction to dedicate this beautiful forest to the use and enjoyment of my people for all time.” From that day onwards, Epping Forest became known as ‘The People’s Forest’. Long, but not very wide, the main body of the forest stretches northwards from Chingford to Epping, while South of Chingford the forest narrows, and forms a green corridor that extends deep into east London, giving rise to the more modern nickname, ‘The Cockney Paradise’. When the forest was threatened with privatisation in the late 19th century, the huge public outcry led the City of London Corporation to buy and save the site in what was the first major success of the environmental movement in Europe.
