Page:The Preservation of Places of Interest or Beauty, 1907.djvu/20

Epping Forest, and the New Forest, Wimbledon Common, Hindhead, Hampstead Heath and the adjoining heights, and the banks of the Thames, and the hills above the river at Richmond. Such places have been saved, not merely to provide so much open ground free from buildings, so much area for exercise and recreation, but also for the sake of beauty of view, of hill and wood, and also, sometimes,—for instance in the case of the New Forest,—for the perpetuation of the economic history of the land, as visible evidence of the habits of the people from century to century. We may fairly say, therefore, that the open space movement has been to a large extent a movement for the Preservation of Places of Beauty. Apart from the open space movement comparatively little has been done. The Light Railways Act of 1898 contains a clause, inserted at the instance of Mr. Bryce, directing the Commission to have regard to any objections put before them reference to the injury of the scenery by any prospective railway. An objection on this ground, enforced by other opposition, was successful in defeating a Light Railway in Ashdown Forest, Sussex; but the National Trust failed to save the Snowdon District,—the beautiful Pass of Aberglaslyn and the falls of Bettws-y-Coed—from the intrusion of a mere tourist’s line, though some palliating clauses were obtained. In the field of Private Bill legislation the efforts of Canon Rawnsley and his friends have been successful in excluding railways from the Lake District—a district the peculiar charm of which would be easily marred by embankments, cuttings, and the disturbing presence of trains. Railways have also been kept out of Epping Forest and the New Forest. But no means exist of preventing the spoliation of the rarest and most beautiful spots in the Island at the hands of the owners— the Fall of Foyers is a case in point,—and no special facilities have been given for the dedication of such places