Country Life
RURAL .REAUTY 40CAL ANGER. a It is good sign that some of the local bodies are growing irritated at the criticism of the Preservers of Rural England in general and—apparently—the chairman of the National Trust in particular. The irritation is the ripple which indicates that the wind of good doctrine is blowing, and in the right `direction. One is tempted to do what Sir Charles Fielding did in his investigation of the productive work of the several counties. He made out an order of merit, putting Somerset at the bottom of his third class—and a very bad last. Inci- dentally, it is astonishing that the whole of that adorable county did not rise in protest. One could do very much the same in relation to the preservation of rural beauty. Whatever the degree of success, I should put at the top those few counties which are adopting a rural planning scheme, with the idea of " zoning " the county. And perhaps Somerset ought to come at the top, not this time at the bottom of the list. The Bath authorities were the first to safeguard the architectural purity of their neighbourhood, and thus regulation has done more good than any other simple act. Hertfordshire is among the first to consider rural planning seriously, perhaps because the shire is being rapidly destroyed by the linked ugliness long drawn out on either side the chief road.
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