Arden, Warwickshire prominent in the area for centuries. Mary Arden, mother of William Shakespeare, was a member. Shakespeare's play "As You Like It" is set in the Forest of Arden, however it is an imaginary version incorporating elements from the Ardennes forest in Thomas Lodge's prose romance "Rosalynde" and the real forest (both as it was then, subjected to deforestation and enclosure, and the romanticized version of his youth). Towns in the area include Hampton-in-Arden, Henley-in-Arden, and Tanworth-in-Arden. The Countryside Commission considered creating a new national forest in the area in 1989, but the proposal was not taken up. A national forest
Mary Pownall Mary Pownall Mary Pownall (1862-1937) was a British sculptor. She was active from 1890 until 1937. She is particularly associated with Watford. Pownall was born in Leigh in Lancashire in 1862. In the 1890s she was living in Birkenhead. She studied in Frankfurt in 1896 and in Paris from 1897 to 1898 where she tutored by Auguste Rodin. She then studied in Rome from 1898 to 1901. In Rome she lived at 53b Via Margutta. In 1902 she married Alfred Bromet, a barrister, but she continued to use her maiden name for her work. From 1903 to 1931 they lived