On Trust
The thanks offered to Lord Crawford, the re- tiring chairman, at the National Trust's annual meeting later this month, will be sincerely meant. For twenty years he has been the head of what, has proved to be, rather surprisingly perhaps, a most effective organisation. I say `surprisingly' because there is inevitably the look of a forlorn hope about a body which seeks to civilise the in- fluences at work on the English landscape today. What has happened in the past two decades nevertheless has been a striking growth in the general awareness of the need for such a body, and a corresponding increase in the Trust's re- sources.
Twenty years ago, as Lord Ciawford recalls, there were fewer than 8,000 members and the Trust owned 112,000 acres. Today there are more than 155,000 members and the Trust owns or protects more than 400,000 acres. An impressive expansion—although not nearly enough, of course. 'If we pass through the next fifty years without too disastrous a loss of our natural and architectural beauties, if we manage to preserve those aspects of England for which people visit this country, it will be because we have given full support to the National Trust.' Not my words, but those of Sir Kenneth Clark. QUOODI.E
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