RIVERS AND THE C.P.R.E.
The annual meeting of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England which was on May 1st should mark a very definite stage in this most beneficent and necessary move- ment. The membership has doubled since 1928, and the number of constituent bodies, originally twenty-two, continues to multiply. The number of its activities multiplies at as rapid a rate. Whoever has any scheme for saving or bettering rural England, the Council is approached and is able to render effective service. One of its latest activities is to help in pro- moting definite action for saving our brooks and rivers from pollution. The new Drainage Bill has, indeed, exasperated fishermen, who see in it more danger than safety to the cleanliness of the waters ; and most people feel that it omits a most necessary clause or two. From how many rivers have fish—from salmon to gudgeon—completely vanished, owing both to mechanical and chemical pollution ? The salmon of Merioneth and the pike of East Anglia are in the same plight. Perhaps Sir Henry Newbolt, that excellent naturalist as well as poet, who is to address the meeting will emphasize the need of the rivers. Incidentally, the river valleys, as scenery, are to be specially considered in the latest of the county
Regional Plans. W. BEACH THOMAS.
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