Watling Chase is a community forest

Community Forests in England

England's twelve community forests are afforestation-based regeneration projects which were established in the early 1990s. Each of them is a partnership between the Forestry Commission and the Countryside Agency, which are agencies of the British government, and the relevant local councils.Most of...

 of 72 square miles.. It is located to the north of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 around the towns of Potters Bar

Potters Bar

Potters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England, located north of Central London. In 2001 it had a population of 21,618....

, St. Albans, Bushey

Bushey

Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...

, Borehamwood

Borehamwood

-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...

 and Barnet

Barnet

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...

. It includes Aldenham Country Park

Aldenham Country Park

Aldenham Country Park is a parkland and woodland, including a reservoir, created in 1971 and now part of the Watling Chase Community Forest, located near Elstree, Hertfordshire in England....

, Bowmansgreen Farm, Highfield Park, Merry Hill

Merry Hill

Merry Hill may refer to:*Merry Hill, Wolverhampton, a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands*Merry Hill Shopping Centre, near Brierley Hill, West Midlands*Merry Hill, North Carolina, a town of Bertie County...

 and Shenley Park, Scratchwood

Scratchwood

Scratchwood is an extensive, mainly wooded, country park in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet. The 55 hectare site was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1997, and it is a Site of Metropolitan Importance...

, Moat Mount Open Space

Moat Mount Open Space and Mote End Farm

Moat Mount Open Space is a Local Nature Reserve, Borough Grade II, in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet. The site is an extensive area bounded by Barnet Way, Barnet Road and Hendon Wood Lane. It includes Barnet Gate Wood and Scratchwood Countryside Park, but is separate from Scratchwood...

 and 'The Watling Chase Timberland Trail', a waymarked walk of 17 kilometres.

It was set up in 1991 and is one of twelve community forests in England. It is now managed by a partnership between Herfordshire local authorities and the Countryside Agency, supported by the Countryside Management Service.. Hertfordshire County Council has taken responsibility for the delivery of action to achieve the WCCF Forest Plan.

External links

• cmsnews, No 105, Summer 2010, Newsletter of the Hertfordshire CMS, Countryside Management Service