We are immensely grateful and touched to have received a very generous gift from the late Elaine Baker, who kindly remembered us in her will. A life member of the Trust and a former staff member at Suntrap (now The Hive), she was deeply connected to the Forest. Thanks to Sue McKinley, Elaine’s colleague and friend, and also one of our members and volunteers, who has shared a beautiful article remembering Elaine and her love for the Forest and the natural environment.
Memories of Elaine Baker
by Sue McKinley
Elaine joined the staff of Suntrap Field Study Centre, High Beach, in 1974. Ken Hoy’s vision that children’s connection with the natural world could influence their learning across the curriculum concurred precisely with Elaine’s philosophy. For one day every three weeks, for a year, every nine-year-old in Waltham Forest was taught in the Forest.
Elaine’s introduction was always “the forest is our classroom but it is not here for us, we are here for the forest. You will become the special people who know how to care for it.” She insisted all habitats were restored, all animals, however unappealing, were handled gently and respectfully. Many now middle-aged adults will have followed the tall blonde teacher with her impeccably trained red setters. She knew the forest like the back of her hand, and after a break from teaching to concentrate on her smallholding, it was Epping Forest and Suntrap that drew her back. It was typical of her, at the close of Ken’s Memorial Service, to slip away for a solitary forest walk.
She left much behind – memories of her forthright opinions, her dry wit and her generosity and her can-do, will-do approach. When the camping shelter was no longer adequate, Elaine project-managed a new one, from securing a grant to finding B&B for the Estonian crew who constructed it. Then, with her partner Peter, erected a wind-vane and solar panel as a teaching prop. Her most beautiful legacy to Suntrap must be the huge pond, now surrounded with wild flowers and teeming with life.
During retirement in Pembrokeshire, they acquired 11 acres of land and planted 3,500 trees.
Any trip back to these parts was an opportunity to visit the forest and every Spring included a solitary walk to check the health of her ‘secret’ patch of bluebells. She would be happy to know that EFHT is putting “we are here for the forest” at its head, as she did.
Photo: Elaine putting up the camping shelter wind-vane.
About Gift in Wills:
Over the past 50 years, these kind gifts have played a vital role in standing up for the Forest, advocating on its behalf, undertaking practical habitat management work, and educating and inspiring others to do the same.
If you have already been kind enough to leave a gift in your will to Epping Forest Heritage Trust, we would love to know, so that we can thank you personally and share with you some ways in which your gift will leave a lasting legacy. Please contact Amy at: amy.liu@efht.org.uk
To find out more about leaving a gift in your will, please visit our website here.