We are glad to learn that the Ken Wood Preservation
Council is enlisting much public support. It would be a tragedy if Lord Mansfield's beautiful woodland estate on the Northern Heights, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, were cut up for building land. London is none too well provided with parks, especially north of the Thames, and as the suburbs spread and thicken beyond the County borders the need for open spaces is ever increasing. Ken Wood, with its 220 acres of park, is the only large estate, within a few miles of Charing Cross, that retains its rural character. The six parishes which surround it already contain over 800,000 people, and their population is growing rapidly. The next generation would lament our short-sighted folly if we threw away this last chance of adding to the parks within the London area. The times are hard and the price askedfor Ken Wood is large, but London is well able to raise the money if it cares to make the effort. The borough councils are making substantial grants to the fund, private subscribers are coming forward in considerable numbers, and the County Council will, we trust, help to save Ken Wood for London. The Treasurer of the fund is Mr. H. E. Goodison, at Hillside, Fitzroy Park, Highgate.
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