DORSET BEAUTY SPOT ENDANGERED.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sra,—Will you please bring the enclosed fact before readers of the Spectator ? :—
"The War Office propose to acquire permanently, for the purpose of a tank gunnery school, 973 acres of hind between Lulworth Cove and Arish Mell, on the Dorset coast. At a meeting of Dorset County Council at Dorchester recently the Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord-Lieutenant, condemned the proposal as injurious to one of the most beautiful spots in Dorset. It might be necessary for the War Office to promote a Bill in Parliament, and he hoped it would be opposed. The Earl of Ilchester spoke of the injury to fishing interests that would be caused. It was decided to take the necessary steps to oppose the proposal."
The devastation of England by the English is surely worse than the devastation of France by her enemy. All round Lulworth Cove are cliffs with undulating slopes, long sweeps of gorse-covered downland where rabbits dart in and out, and over which seabirds swoop and cry, open to " the everlasting wash of air." On the other hand, a wide stretch of arable land, which I recall rising to the skyline in the beauty of stooked sheaves or standing out against a background of sunset splendour. I beg of you and your readers to do what you can to save the soul of England from the damnation of utilitarianism.—I am, Sir, &c., E. E.
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