A decorated judicial officer of the Forest has been remembered following his death.

On April 6 Epping Forest’s verderer for the south of the Forest Peter Adams MBE died.

Born in Stanmore on May 12, 1947 Mr Adams moved to the Epping Forest area aged three, to Leyton and then to Woodford.

Every Sunday he enjoyed walking in the Forest with his parents and brothers and excelled at cross country running, winning the county championships and joining Woodford Green Athletic Club.

From an early age he took an interest in natural history and, through the RSPCA, took on rescued or injured foxes.

This furthered Mr Adams’ interest in animal behaviour and he went on to achieve a BSc in Psychology, later starting work with the London Borough of Newham where he worked for much of his career.

Alongside his career, Peter took part in lots of part-time lecturing and educational activities in the Forest, teaching evening classes in natural history, running adult Forest discovery courses at Debden House and undertaking survey work as well as teaching for the Field Studies Centre in High Beach.

Through these activities he met Judith - now the Chairwoman of the Epping Forest Heritage Trust - and they were married in 1979.

In addition to his work with Epping Forest Mr Adams was Trustee of the Gunpowder Mills and Lopping Hall and was an Independent Person with the Epping Forest District Council.

Mr Adams was a Green Team volunteer leader for the Epping Forest Centenary Trust for the last five years leading the team on a weekly basis carrying out ‘light touch’ conservation work, using hand tools where appropriate.

In addition, he was a regular volunteer information assistant at the Epping Forest Visitor Centre at High Beach.

Mr Adams commenced as a verderer for Epping Forest in 1997.

In 2015 he was awarded an MBE for voluntary services to the conservation of flora and fauna in South West Essex/East London.

A tribute from the City of London Corporation read: "Peter’s involvement with wildlife, his training in Epping Forest as well as his personal exploration of the ancient woodland and the conservation activities he undertook, nurtured his passion for wildlife and Epping Forest, which continued to grow throughout his life.

"We are extremely grateful to Verderer Adams for his immensely valuable involvement with many aspects of Epping Forest life and he will be greatly missed by the City of London Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee as well as the Epping Forest team of staff and volunteers.

"We offer our deepest condolences to Judith Adams and Peter’s family and friends."