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 Martin (artist) wall construction for the University of Stirling. Martin was the joint winner of the 1969 John Moores Painting Prize. Mary Martin (artist) Mary Adela Martin (née Balmford) (16 January 1907 in Folkestone – 9 October 1969 in London) was a British sculptor best known for her work with her husband Kenneth Martin. Mary Balmford studied at Goldsmiths' College, London in 1925–9 and at the Royal College of Art 1929–32 where she met and married Kenneth Martin in 1930. Exhibited at the A.I.A. from 1934, mainly as a still-life and landscape painter, using her maiden name. During the war Mary taught