Free Fungi Foray - 17th OCTOBEr
Time: 11-2
Location: Epping Forest - Nursery Road Entrance
Meeting point: The Stubbles Car Park
Public Transport: Central line to Loughton, then 15 minutes walk
Parking: Paid at the meeting point, or free on the road opposite
Terrain: This is a varied walk covering woodland, grassland and pasture, with some mild hills along the way. Potential to go up a steeper incline towards Loughton camp which can be avoided based on accessibility needs of the group
What we have found here on previous walks at this time of year: Oyster mushrooms, Coral Tooth, Zoned Rosette, Destroying Angel, Russulas, Milk Caps, Ceps & other Boletes, Beefsteak fungus, Dyers Polypore and loads loads more
What to expect: This non-led, peer learning walk is all about getting out into the woodland and sharing in the world of fungi! We’ll start the day with an introduction to mushroom identification for beginners. We’ll then head out off the track and follow our feet to see what we find, splintering off into smaller groups organically as we go. We’ll stop half way for a break to share and chat about our finds before looping back to the start point.
What to bring: Weather suitable clothing (including suitable shoes), water, snacks, any mushroom ID books you may have
Disclaimer: This walk is all about identifying fungi, and while we will share information on whether fungi is edible over the course of the walk, this isn’t designed to be a foraging walk. Epping Forest is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest that is owned and managed by the City of London corporation and its bylaws do not allow mushroom picking.
Disclaimer to the disclaimer: All walkers are their own people and can make their own assessments about the above. I personally think this is rubbish, that it misunderstands the way fungi grow and how ethical harvesting can be undertaken, and that it perpetuates a long dangerous pattern of landowners restricting access to common land, making us poorer advocates for nature and stealing spaces that belong to us all. For further information, lightly mention ‘enclosure’ to me on the walk and I will angrily rant about it for 12 hours.
