Mad Bess Woods is one of the wooded areas that make up the larger Ruislip Woods in west London despite being separated by the larger Ruislip Woods by a road. Mad Bess Woods connects Bayhurt Woods. It is an area of ancient woodland with a couple of different species of oak and hornbeam, which are coppiced or trimmed to encourage growth; coppicing them will allow them to live over four times as long. There are footpaths that go directly through the middle of the woods as well as footpaths that go along the perimeter, and one such footpath is on the Hillingdon Trail through the borough. The woods is a typical one that would have covered the country after the Ice Age. More recently, the woods was used for hunting.
The name of the woods probably came from a caretaker called "Bess". There was a caretaker of this name who would monitor the woods and protect them against poachers. She was known by the poachers as "Mad Bess", so that probably describes that she did her job well to be imortalised in such a way.
I started my walk from the south perimeter, which I later learned was called "Young Wood" at one time. Back in 1837 on February 16, a 15-year old boy named John Brill was killed while he was helping farmers with work, such as cutting some bushes. He had informed the police about the names of some poachers, and although the murderers were never convicted, it would have most likely been them that killed the boy for revenge. The boy's body lay covered and undiscovered for three days despite search parties. It is a sad story.
On my walk, the ground was still frozen. This meant that there was less mud because the mud was frozen, and snow still spotted the ground.
The south-eastern part of the woods backs onto Brekspear Crematorium.
One of the secrets of Mad Bess Wood is the open-air chapel in a clearing at the edge of the woods. A paving in the shape of a cross or chapel is laid on the forest floor with the walls made of hedge. A fence can be opened for visitors to enter the chapel. It is near the edge of the forest where a campsite was set up for children to use in days gone by. (I'm not sure if this is still used.) The gate is covered with memorials to "The Youth of Ruislip" who lost their lives during World War II. The gate also has a couple of memorials to members of the public for scouts.
A couple of places in Mad Bess Woods was still muddy, but most of the mud was frozen, which made it much more pleasant to walk in instead of thick and annoying mud. The temperature did not get above freezing all day.
I wore boots on my visit this time after being caught out at how muddy the trails and woods is on other visits.
I found the middle of the woods and the walkway to be more interesting. There are a few streams that run through the woods.
The sun came up during the end of my visit. I am looking forward to visiting the woods when spring comes. The bluebells in this woods and in Bayhurst Woods are meant to be very pretty, so I am planning to visit the woods then. Watch this space.
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