NOTES AND COMMENTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 187, 21 May 1938, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS

TOWN AND COUNTRY. There is the mind that loves the crowd, writes the Rev. F. H. Ballard in the “Congregational Quarterly/’ the mind that is exhilarated when masses of humans struggle for a train, that finds fascination in roofs and endless streets of monotonous houses, though whether the fascination arises from the different sizes of aspidistras in the parlour window or the variety of paints on the front doors I have never been able to discover. There is also the mind that loves space and solitude, that works most vigorously where things spread their beauty without let or hindrance, where the stars are seen as stars and not as inferior street illuminations, where the sunset and the rainbow and the harvest moon and the frost on the trees have undisputed sAvay, .and the nightingale tempts one out of doors on June evenings. Mr Ballard goes on to develop this theme and shows the advantages enjoyed by the country child, advantages which, nevertheless, are more often than not used later for advancement in the city that draws strength and talent to itself. AERODROME BY RECLAMATION. ’ “Some years ago the land on which now stands the new Belfast Airport, opened recently by Mrs Neville Chamberlain, was under six feet of water at high tide,’’ stated a member of the 8.8. C. staff in a recent broadcast. “Day by day, week by week, year by year, the Harbour Commissioners of Belfast have reclaimed this land from Belfast Lough; the total area is now 365 acres. This vast undertaking presented many problems—one of them, of binding the new surface together. At one stage shamrock grew plentifully on this new land, but it lias disappeared as the land dried out. The greatest advantage of this new airport is its accessibility. One of the major problems of aerial communication is the situation of aerodromes reasonably close to important industrial and commercial centres. Most provincial cities suffer from their inability to have an airport close to them. The new airport which was formally opened recently is exceptionally well placed, being within seven minutes by motor-car from the heart of Belfast.”