[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." I SIR.—Surely no
more beautiful view in the South of England can be found than Poole Harbour from the Purbeck Hills and from the Parkstone moorland. Unfortunately the latter is passing away only too quickly by reason of the indifference to natural beauty of landowners and jerry-builders. Had we had a National Trust Society twenty years ago the crest of a hill we named Rhododendron might have been saved for the public. There was an exquisite view from the summit—Poole Harbour in the distance, and in the foreground masses of rhododendrons sloping down to the valley. Now the heathery moors are cut up, villas of glaring red brick are dotted about, the rhododendrons are pulled up, being in the way of new roads, and the turf is banked up to form the walls of gardens for shrubs and flowers which cannot grow upon peat and sand, blown over at times by raging blasts. But still there are places which might be saved as beauty spots. From Parkstone by Poole hinterland and Wareham to Corfe might be turned into a Yellowstone Park if the principal landowners were public-spirited, and I doubt whether much money is to be made out of houses where even fir-trees will not grow large enough to form screens from the wind. Poole Harbour reminds one of Venetian lagoons— indeed it is a cousin-german. What a beautiful centre it would make to a wild park, and what a delightful playground and sanctuary for water fowl and other birds !—I am, Sir, &c.,
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