I love a good picnic on a hot day. Even though the lovely summery weather we had for a bit now seems a distant memory after this week’s blustery rain.
Still, I’m hoping to get a lot more use out of my vintage picnic/chilly basket before Winter is back knocking on the door. We went to Epping Forest to christen my basket, get away from the heaving London masses and get out of the city. Perfect. There was hardly anyone around, a mere 20 minutes on the overland from Liverpool St and we were in what seemed to be the countryside with only wild life for company.
My new basket buddying up with another vintage picnic case
The new Mexican blanket
There really is nothing like a good picnic in a forest on a hot day to wash away all memories of winter. It’s amazing how quickly you forget the negative temperatures and snow.
Epping forest is truly a wonderful place – all 6000 acres of it. Well the small part we explored anyway. We managed not to get lost and even saw a bunny, a pony, cattle, a deer and plenty of cyclists. I highly recommend a visit – but don’t tell too many people, I’d rather the masses stuck to Hampstead Heath.
I’m very jealous of my friend’s floral picnic set that she found on eBay which came complete with green Thermos.
You can read more about our picnic over at in the Sweetness of Passing Time, who also took the lovely photos on this post.
I’ve never been to Epping Forest but since you recommend it, I might have to take a picnic there myself one day.
My hamper isn’t as lovely as yours or your friends, it’s just wicker with tartan lining nice and traditional! x
I have good memories of Epping Forest. The first place Martina and I rented together overlooked it. The flat was lop-sided, the plumbing eccentric and the sound proofing non-existent but you could hear the owls at night and for that reason it was almost perfect.
In the summer they let cattle graze on our part of the forest and every few weeks the herd would trundle out of the undergrowth stopping traffic and raiding everyone’s front gardens for tasty snacks.
I also learnt to drive around Epping Forest. You’d spend most of the lesson dodging cars, vans, and speed bumps then for the last ten minutes hit the forest road, put your foot down and breathe a sigh of relief…