The Fairlop Phantom

Story & Activities Tony Cranston

The Fairlop Phantom

Story & Activities Tony Cranston

The History of Fairlop Waters and the Fairlop Oak

To Hainault Forest Queen Anne she did ride, And beheld the beautiful Oak by her side. And after viewing it from the bottom to the top, She said to her court that it was Fair Lop.
The Fairlop Fair Song

The Fairlop Fair from the 1720s to the 1890s was the biggest and often most riotous event in all of London; thirty thousand people reportedly attending the merriment annually on the first friday in July and gathering around the most ancient and famous Fairlop Oak. A remarkable tree which all accounts testify to its size, age and nobility. Reputed to have an age going back as far as the early Christian times, its girth was about twelve feet. It had eleven great arms with a circumference of thirty six feet and a shadow spanning three hundred feet. Age, damage by people and fire ravaged the tree to the extent that by the early eighteenth century it had to be fenced in and a sign was placed there which read: All good foresters are requested not to hurt this old tree, a plaster having been lately applied to his wounds.

On the 25th of June 1805 the tree caught fire after a party of Londoners lit fires beneath and did not put them out properly. This caused some severe damage and then in 1820 the Fairlop Oak was felled in the high winds of that February. By 1827 the only remains of the mighty tree were to be found in the pulpit of Wanstead Church. However part of one of the limbs of the tree was made into a coffin for a certain Mr Daniel Day the founder of the Fairlop Fair. An eccentric craftsman of block and pump from Wapping and who had a small estate near the Fairlop Oak. He conceived the idea to dine with a party of friends and workmen. To this purpose he built a boat with rigging and sail then put it on wheels and set off with a parade from Wapping through Mile End and Bow, Stratford, Ilford and finally to Hainault Forest and the Fairlop Oak. He himself would stand inside the tree and serve his friends with beans and bacon under the tree, before a day of merriments

By 1725 this Bean Feast had become very popular and it grew and grew, becoming the essential event of the year with those attending called The First Friday Fairgoers. The crowds of young and old, rich and poor, took part in games and danced to fiddles, pipes and drums, jack puddings, trumpets and tambourines all fuelled with beer and spirits served from booths. Feasting and entertainments of all kinds; stilt walkers, jugglers, fire breathers and side shows in tents with the likes of bearded lady, the living skeleton and the boy with pink eyes. There were gypsies with crystal balls, jokers in costumes and storytellers with magical tales. It was well understood that if it could happen, it would happen at Fairlop Fair and by six o clock in the evening everyone gathered around the Great Oak to sing The Fairlop Song; one of many songs, legends, customs and tales that that grew up around the fair.

Daniel Day now called The Good Day died at the age of eighty four in 1767 and his tombstone is in Barking churchyard, his coffin made from his beloved Oak. The fair continued and grew into an enormous event that attracted crowds of spectators to watch the boat parade along the way. Traffic jams were often reported as was the occasional drunken brawl that broke out. Attempts were made to stop the fair and all failed, however the fair gradually wound down to an end or perhaps just a pause with new places to walk, play and enjoy as it was always meant to be. Now its your turn, the good people who come and enjoy walking, playing and being in such a beautiful place. It is for you now, to take ownership of, to enjoy and nurture a good feeling here so that the area blossoms and grows into a place worthy to leave for our children.

Fairlop Waters, a long time ago, used to have the most famous fair in all of London held every year on the first Friday in July under the mighty Fairlop Oak.

The Fairlop Phantom

I do not want you to be scared These strange things happened a long time ago There is nothing for you to be afraid of now

One year a young man took the short cut through the woods towards the annual fair. He was very excited and walked quickly following the pathway that wove its way around the trees and past the most colourful flowers, the sun was shining and the birds were singing and he stopped for a while to listen to the sweet birdsong. Suddenly the bird song stopped, but he did not have time to wonder why because from behind him, he heard a frail old voice call out to him. Young man! Young man! He turned and looking around he saw walking slowly towards him, a frail old woman, her bony hand leaning heavily on her stick and looking very tired. She was indeed very old and had long, thin white hair; her face had deep lines, with more thin white hair growing from her top lip. She wore a raggedy old cloak and wore only one shoe. In a thin voice and sounding out of breath she continued: Young man. Can you help a poor old mother? I would like to go to the fair but it is too far for my old legs to take me. Can you carry me on your back? You look to be strong and healthy. Sure mother, he said cheerily and began to walk back for her. Oh just stay where you are she said. I can make it as far as you at least, and she struggled towards him. The young man stopped and then turned his back and lowered down for the old lady to climb up. At that moment the old women let out the most unearthly scream Yeeearrrrrhhhhh!!! Her hair suddenly turned blood red, her eyes turned blood red and her bony fingers turned to fearful claws. She leapt twenty paces through the air and landed onto his back with her claws digging into his body and tearing off his skin. The young mans screams were drowned by the noise of the teeth of the evil beast as she began to eat him All they ever found of him were a few bones with deep scratch marks on them and one shoe After that people never came through the woods alone again. But people being people and sometimes being stupid would say I am not scared and off they went into the woods, but that was the last anyone would see of them. Sometimes people will just not learn and time after time someone would venture foolishly into the woods but none came out.

Eventually people started to think that something must be done. But this was no ordinary being; some evil beast, a phantom lived there. So they called for the police and the next day a detective called Jonathan, an experienced expert in mysterious matters came to investigate. Perhaps he could solve this problem? Jonathan began by asking everyone in the district what they knew. What had they heard? Had they seen anything mysterious or frightening themselves? All the time he watched their eyes to see if they were recalling something from their memory and so telling the truth, or were in fact making up stories which would be of no help to his investigations. He listened to their tales and little by little a pattern was beginning to emerge. It would seem that when the victim moved, she stood still, but when the victim stood still, she moved. Jonathan thought this to be the clue he was looking for. The next day he put on a big coat and turned up the collar hiding something beneath the coat. He then went alone into the woods and pretending to limp to appear more vulnerable, he walked the path slowly. He walked casually but his eyes were looking and observing everything. Then he saw something off among the trees, it might be just a shadow, he thought, but his blood began to turn cold and he knew someone or something, was coming. Young man! called a frail voice. But he pretended not to hear and walked on casually still observing and not missing anything. Jonathan! The voice called again. He knew this must be the Phantom because he had told no one his name. He then stopped and turned around and saw a frail old woman walking slowly towards him leaning heavily on her stick, a stick that his trained eye could see was much too short for her and must be a disguise, wearing a raggedy cloak and as he noted, only one shoe. Young man! Can you help a poor old mother go to the fair? My legs will not carry me so far and I would really like to go. Can you carry me on your back? You look strong and healthy. Sure mother he replied and then began to walk towards her. Oh you can stay where you are. My legs will at least carry me as far as you. Jonathan stopped and turned his back and lowered down for her to climb up. Just then she let out her unearthly scream and leapt at least twenty paces towards Jonathan her hair turning blood red, her eyes turning blood red, her long bony fingers turning to fearful claws. She was just about to land her claws into Jonathans skin when he swiftly spun around and pulling out a shining, sharp sword he had hidden under his coat he sliced her head clean off and it rolled off onto the ground and the phantom lay dead.

As her head rolled across the ground, Jonathan saw the head and body turn into red dust. He thought this must be evil, so he carefully gathered it all up and put it into a bottle of Holy Water and sealed it with a stopper. He then put it into a hollow high up inside an old rowan tree, the good magic tree, for safe keeping forever and since then no one heard of any more strange happenings or disappearances. However many years later during world war two when the woods had mostly gone and the Fairlop Waters area was much different, a strange thing happened and was reported in the newspapers. One night even though there was a sudden thunderstorm and the weather was bad and visibility poor, there was a heavy bombing raid all across London that caused much damage, but of the stories in the newspapers, one newspaper also mentioned that there was a lightning strike that destroyed the old rowan tree. A couple of days later two young boys were in the woods looking for things to do. They were about to climb a tree when one of them screamed as he found by the side of the tree the remains of a few bones. They went to the police who investigated the case and the newspapers reported something that made the local people shiver. The newspapers said that the body was of a spy that was parachuted into the area during the bombing raid. They also reported that it was very unusual just to have only a few bones remaining and that they had strange deep scratch marks. They also said that the only other thing they found was one shoe. Since then I have not heard of any more strange happenings or disappearances, but local people will tell you Should you hear someone call you in the woods? Do not stop! And should they call your name Run home fast!

Kims Game
This game has been used to train spies or secret agents from almost all countries for over two thousand years and is still in use by MI5 and many police forces around the world today. Though played as a game it is a great method to improve your observation skills and train you to see more than others in any given situation. Your memory skills will greatly improve alsoTry it!

Game of Numbers

What to do:
Arrange about twelve items on a table or in the centre of the floor. Look for about 10 seconds then cover them over to see how many you can remember. (With practice you will be able to remember more and you can increase the number of items)

One!
Five!

Four!
Three?

Variation:
Begin to remember the details e.g. colours, sizes, textures, which item is next to which, old and new items, size of shoe, how many keys in the bunch etc. You will be amazed at how you will begin to notice things that other people do not and how your visual memory improves.

Tip:
Do not try to memorise each item. Try only to see the items as in a picture or painting.

What to do:
Both players stand facing each other with hands behind back. Player one calls out a number between 1 5 and simultaneously (without even the slightest pause) brings out their hand and displays a different amount of fingers. If different, player then has another turn to play. If the same amount, then it is the turn for the other player, to play. This game is not as easy as it seems - try it!

Snapshot Activity
Each pair are to act out the roles of Camera and Guide in turn. What to do:
Under supervision, the Guide leads the Camera, who has their eyes closed or is wearing a blind fold. The Guide looks for a beautiful or interesting image for the Camera to take a photograph of. At the Guides signal, a tap on the shoulder, the Camera opens their eyes for about ten seconds viewing and remembering all they can. At another signal the Camera closes their eyes, and is lead to another spot. After your allotted time and number of photographs roles are reversed.

Telling Truth or Lies?

What to do:
Copy and enlarge the template onto A4 acetate. Hold it up and look at your partners eyes as you ask your questions. Depending on the question and what their eyes are doing you can tell if they tell the truth or are lying. If looking for an answer in your memory your eyes will move to your left hand corner. If trying to find a creative answer your eyes will move to your right corner. Examples of questions: What makes you happy / sad? Who do you like / dislike the most? What is beautiful / ugly? Why is the sky blue / trees green? Your eyes will always tell you which area of the brain they are searching - ask your partner a question and their eyes will search for the answer.

Follow up:
Back in class or at home each photograph is discussed and then each child draws their best photograph of the day. Children should be encouraged to use all their senses at each photograph to help with recall including what they can also smell, touch or hear; taste is more problematic however and so is optional.

Using an A4 sheet of card, cut a large photograph or postcard size rectangular shape from the middle and use the shape to view the landscape around you as a framed photograph.

EXPRESSION

O TI

EM

M
LANGUAGE

EM LO IC G

O O N

R I AT

Variation:

IM AG IN

Spooky Phantom Puppet Theatre

You will need:
Thick card, a straw or ice lolly stick a torch or desk light, glue or sticky tape and a table cover, large towel or sheet.

Story Circles
Create a story as a group indirectly showing the importance of punctuation, beginnings, middles, twists of plots and endings. What to do:
Arrange class/group seated with a space in front for all of them to stand in a semi-circle. Ask them for a beginning of a story. (Almost always someone will say once upon a time. You can encourage other beginnings). Child who offers beginning then stands up in front of class and says his/her line. For ideas on how to create a story see the Story Circle page. Point out to the class or group that the story needs characters and a place. Ask for suggestions. If several are given, teacher can choose or they can be put to a vote. A child might offer In a Magic Forest he or she then stands to the left of the first child and says his/her line. Then both in turn say their line. Teacher then elicits next part character perhaps a princess, and so on until the story grows and comes to an end. Teacher points out that after princess there should be something to indicate it is a full sentence and elicits a child to say full stop, then he or she should come out and say full stop. Commas, exclamation points, capital letters can all be added when each line is finished, e.g. you should now have a capital letter or suddenly there was a bang! Exclamation mark. Continue until the end of the story but if the story does not finish other suggestions from the class or group can be made and that child walks around back of group to the end of the semi-circle and adds a second line.

What to do:
Fold an A4 piece of card in half. Carefully pierce a hole for an eye one third of the way down the fold. Draw a mouth with jagged teeth then carefully cut it out. Unfold and place it down onto the table and draw a phantom/ghostly/witchy body around the eyes and mouth adding scary hair, horns, hat, tail and whatever is in your imagination. Cut out your figure and stick a straw or ice lolly stick onto the back of your creature. Switch on your torch or light and shine it at your wall or screen. Hold your puppet in front of the light to cast a scary shadow on the wall or screen. Turning, twisting, moving your puppet closer or farther away from the light to see what happens to the shape. Create a theatre and tell a story by pinning your sheet, towel or table cover to an open door way and put the light, yourself and puppets on one side and the audience on the other. Create other characters to help tell the story e.g. a policeman.

Tip:
The shyer child might be encouraged to say the punctuation. Also the title and The End. Encourage children to use voice and gesture when saying lines. Punctuation can be made with body shapes or movement, e.g. a full stop could be a child curling up into a ball an exclamation point could be a jump into the air while clapping hands over head.

Variation:
Using drums cymbals etc. to increase the effect. Perform at home or in class/school assembly. What shadowy shapes can you make using your hands?

Variation:
Group can turn their backs to the room and turn around one at a time to say their lines. Remember to keep going back to the beginning and everyone saying their lines. Children can then all write the story. Each can draw a picture of their line which can be stapled to make a book. Children can share their story in a circle during assembly, on parents evening or a school performance. Parents can be encouraged to say the last line - The End - and stand up. Teacher/class can choose a theme or style for the story perhaps after listening to another tale.

Fingerprinting
Everyone has unique fingerprints these are the ridges on your fingertips. (Take a look at yours.) Forensic scientists lift prints from crime scenes and check them against their records. If they match, then they know that person was at the scene. You will need: 
A mirror, chalk powder or talc, soot as an alternative, a small paint brush, card and clear sticky tape.

The Sherlock Holmes Game

What to do:
Player one is chosen. The chosen player is given an infinite amount of money to buy anything in the whole of the universe. The player can spend as much or as little as they need, to buy anything they may choose. Something small like a pen or something large, perhaps the moon. Other players then have to ask questions to find out what has been bought. Whatever is bought cannot be either black or white. The chosen player cannot answer Yes or No and therefore must answer using other vocabulary. The question what is it? cannot be asked. The chosen player must always answer truthfully. The player finally discovering the item bought is the next to play and buy.

What to do:
Place your finger onto the mirror or other glass surface. The grease from your finger will stay on the surface. Take your paint brush into the powder then carefully dust lots of chalk powder or talc onto the fingerprint. Gently blow away any excess powder. Carefully lay and press a piece of clear sticky tape flat onto your print, then carefully peel it off. Place prints onto a card and label each print with: Location e.g. bedroom. Crime e.g. tidying up Suspect e.g. Mum

Tips:
When answering truthfully you must also answer carefully e.g. If you bought a pen, a good question might be what is it used for? To answer truthfully and say Its for writing would give the game away. However you could answer truthfully but carefully and say sometimes it is used for communication

Variation:
Go around your house and take prints from different items and see if you can identify their owner.

Detective

Disguises

Learning disguises are more important than you might think. Real detectives or secret agents depend on it to watch and catch criminals and other bad guys.
A disguise is much like a costume, like Halloween. An agents life may depend on the quality of their disguise. There are a lot of different ways to disguise yourself; in fact, there are ideal get ups for different situations, depending on how much you need to blend in. Wearing a moustache or a beard if youre only ten will probably draw attention to yourself. Your clothes are your first choice when it comes to your spy disguise. In fact, if you are not well known in the area where you will be spying, clothing may be enough of a disguise to do the trick. If you can, choose clothes that can be turned inside out (and still look good) learn to change your posture, by stooping or walking differently. Often you can recognise people a long way off by their familiar walk or posture.

What to do:
Spend some time watching the way people walk. Some people walk very slowly and stooped often with heavy steps if going to work on Monday mornings. Others will walk more upright, quick and have lighter steps when going to meet a friend. Can you tell? Change your looks Sometimes, just changing clothes is not enough. Then youll have to do some serious covering up to get secrets from one place to another without being caught. This calls for looking into the more serious art of disguise! Change your hair The way that your hair is cut, as well as the colour, can give away who you are. Wear a good quality wig, or if you have long hair, you can let it hang, or have a pony tail. Hats and glasses are good disguises. Age a bit If you squint your eyes you can see lines form in the corners. Using a soft eyebrow pencil, draw those lines so they look more permanent (dont overdo it!). Do the same with the lines that run from your nostrils to your mouths, and add some wrinkles on your forehead. Add some weight By adding a cushion you can get a bigger belly, add a towel on your shoulders to look broader. You can make your arms and legs look bigger by rolling a scarf around them.  Drama techniques Walking with a limp. This is hard unless you have had drama training. Try sticking a very small coin inside one shoe. Then when you try walking you will walk as though you have a limp. Once tried a couple of times you will remember how you walked and you can do it without the coin and from your memory

Follow Up:
At home, study yourself in the mirror and practice changing your walk and facial reactions. You may even want to take a video of yourself and study closer.

Information
The Fairlop Phantom is part of a series of six Storytelling Resource Books commissioned by Vision Redbridge Leisure and Culture about Fairlop Waters, the largest Country Park located in the London Borough of Redbridge. Fairlop Waters is located on Forest Road Barkingside, Essex, IG6 3HN For more information visit www.redbridge.gov.uk

How to use this book

The books are aimed primarily at KS1 and KS2 but also suitable for all members of the family. Each book contains a Tale of Fairlop Waters together with activities, games and projects to support a range of curriculum subjects. The six stories reflect the mysterious comings and goings both past and present within the area.

About the Author

Tony Cranston is an Award winning writer of childrens stories, with a background in editing and publishing. For more information visit www.tonycranston.co.uk

Tony Cranston May 2012