THE PRESERVATION OF ENGLAND.

Evening Star, Issue 22233, 10 January 1936, Page 6

THE PRESERVATION OF ENGLAND.

It was recently announced that Ham Hall, Dovedale, Derbyshire, at different periods the home of Byron and of Tom Moore, had been opened as a youth hostel. Dovedale is a noted beauty spot, and some time ago it came into the possession of the National Trust, which has already done much to preserve for all time places of historic and picturesque interest. To-day 'it is announced that as a result of public subscriptions to commemorate the King’s Jubilee, a hundred acres, comprising “ the Iron Tors and the Nabs,” have been added to the area preserved at Dovedale. The National Trust has accomplished much good work. Through its efforts, many beautiful places of historic interest, which otherwise in time would have come into the hands of thd jerry builder, have been saved. The National Trust, as Sir William Beach Thomas has pointed out, has a very pleasing title, but it is a misleading one. The trust is not national in any real sense. It endeavours to save for the nation places and buildings that the people would like to treasure, but it receives no national support to this end. It is not endowed, and the contention is put forward that the case for a national grant is overwhelming. An instance was cited in which a beautiful estate in the West of England was sold. It included one of the loveliest hills in the countryside. All the timber was cut, and “ development ” began. To save the hilltop from such desecration someone bought it, and offered it to the National Trust, which body re-\ fused it, wholly and solely for the reason that the trust was not in a position to undertake the financial responsibility.

That body, however, has received many substantial monetary gifts, and it is making the most of its opportunities. At a function in London at the end of November it was announced that it had been able to acquire Bolberry Down, on the South Devon coast, and to complete the purchase of land in the famous wooded valley of Watersmeet, near Lynton, and Lynmouth, in North Devon, while steps were being taken for the preservation of the Malvern Hills and of Buttermere. These are merely examples of the invaluable work that the National Trust is doing. The beauty of the English countryside has produced poeans of praise from visitors from every part of the world, but it is threatened by great dangers in commercial building enterprise, the development of the ■ motor car, and the construction of arterial roads. An enthusiastic supporter of ' the trust died last month. This was Mr Thomas Covington, F.R.G.S., a noted traveller. He and his wife gave to the nation both headlands at Fowey Harbour, and to this Cornish town woods overlooking the harbour. He helped largely in securing for the public open spaces and beauty spots in South London. In an address to the Congress of Archaeological Societies Mr OrmsbyGore, First Commissioner of Works, gave an interesting survey of what is being done by his department in connection with the preservation of ancient monuments. He said they could rejoice that they now had the ownership or guardianship of some of the most important. Their efforts and expenditure to date had been devoted to the ruins of the great monastic buildings and castles of the Middle Ages. In Yorkshire alone they had taken over and dealt with no fewer than ten abbeys and priories and seven castles, and in Scotland practically all the well-known abbeys were in their charge, including Melrose, Dryburgh, Jedburgh, Kelso, Dunfermline, ineholm, and Sweetheart. Thus after centuries of neglect and vandalism it has been left to the people of the twentieth century to rescue Britain’s heritage. Now proposals are afoot for the establishment of a State authority, helped by a Government grant, to deal with the matter of the acquirement and preservation of spots of historical and scenic interest, national parks, and open spaces, and monuments and ancient buildings. Public interest has been aroused, and the movements successfully begun are likely to be concentrated in a co-ordinated effort.

The next conference of the Roman Catholic Teachers’ Association of New Zealand will bo held at Wellington in 1939. Father A. Lysaght, S.M., rector of St. Patrick’s College, Wellington, was-elected president of the 1939 conference yesterday, wlien the fourth annual conference of the association was concluded.

A radio message from the island steamer Maui Pomaro advises that there is a lull shipment of Niue and Samoan bananas aboard. The Dunedin quota is due on .January 14 and is expected to find a ready market.

Described as the second case of its kind in New Zealand, a charge of making a false written statement to the police without genuine belief in its truth, was preferred against Frank Newsom Ihlein Bird, chiropodist, aged .28, in the Hamilton Court to-day. The police alleged that they had been put to considerable trouble through a false allegation made by accused to the effect that two men had robbed him of £BO. Bird, who had a previous conviction for theft of a revolver, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.—Press Association.

lleports from the fruit markets indicate that during the past week very heavy consignments have been received. There is a plentiful supply of plums and peaches, apricots are in fairly light supply, and nectarines are now coming to hand. Good supplies of strawberries, principally locally grown, are still .arriving. A sharp advance has been shown in values for raspberries, red currants, _ and black currants, while loganberries are just coming to hand from Waimate. Nelson Gravenstein apples have made their appearance on the market, values being satisfactory, with an excellent demand. Prices for tomatoes remain firm, and the market could do with a larger supply. Potatoes have a fair inquiry, and good quality peas have firmed in price, other fresh vegetables having only a medium inquiry. A small shipment of Japanese mandarins and naval oranges, in excellent condition, arrived direct by the Sydney Manx during the week, and transhipments ex the Maunganui of Californian grapefruit and oranges and of Rarotongan bananas and ovanges came to hand.

Dunedin and district, according to the local office of the Department of Health, have been very free from notifiable diseases during tho holiday period. There have been a few cases of scarlet fever, but otherwise the department has had nothing to concern itself with in respect to the health of the community.

The City Fire Brigade turned out at 11.15 last night to a chimney fire in Stuart street.

Two Dunedin sportsmen, Messrs D. H. Rowntree and I. Davies, who spent the holiday season at Queenstown, report that trout are exceptionally plentiful just now, and that many good baskets were obtained. Establishing their headquarters at Queenstown, the two fishermen mentioned proceeded every day to the well-known fishing spots, and in 10 days they obtained 93 fish, averaging IJlb, the largest being 41b. They fished at Moke Lake, Lake Kilpatrick, and on the Kawarau River helow the dam down to the Shotover. The best baskets were obtained at Mok© Lake, 22 being landed there in one day, while just as many got off the hook. Only on two days were no fish obtained, conditions being unsuitable owing to wind.

A Thames Association message states that a record gold output for any month since the inception of the Unemployment Board’s gold prospecting scheme is reported for December at Thames by Mr S. Smith, the local certifying officer. The value was £2,964, of which the Thames mining areas yielded £2,550, and Coromandel the balance. For the corresponding month of last year the total was £BBS for the two areas. For 1935 the total yield was 1,0710 z, valued approximately at £5,870 und.er the board’s scheme, which is most satisfactory considering that the activities were not carried out on the most constructive scale possible. Railway revenue for the four weeks ended December 7 was £535,652; expenditure £458,421. The total revenue from April 1 to December 7, 1935, was £4,429,424, the total expenditure was £3,998,042, and the net revenue was £431,382. The totals for the corresponding period of last year were—revenue £4,210,840, expenditure £3,801,681; net revenue, £409,159. The reported presence of sharks, the most dreaded of sea denizens, in the Oamaru Harbour, caused some excitement recently, and bathers were somewhat reluctant to enter the water, but the shark (for one only was seen) soon disappeared, and confidence was quickly restored. Sharks have been seen for some time, however, near the Waitaki River mouth, and while fishing on the south side of the mouth, during the holidays a Glenavy angler landed seven, the largest being Bft in length. Reports from the Moeraki fishing grounds indicate that sharks have also been seen in this locality, although well out from shore.

Eye strain—for eye comfort, for better vision, consult Sturmer and Watson Ltd., Opticians, 2 Octagon, Dunedin.—[Advt.J