We have read with great pleasure in Tuesday's Times the
protest of Mr. W. H. Hills, of The Knoll, Ambleside, against the proposed railway from Windermere to Ambleside, along the eastern bank of the lake. It is certain that such a line, besides in all probability leading to other lines still more destructive of the beauty of the lake scenery, will take much from the pleasure of holiday-seekers, and will add nothing to it. If the lake scenery is to be really enjoyed, it must be enjoyed on foot, on horseback, or in an open carriage, and this applies as fully to the poorest class as to the rich. In order to keep the beauty of the Lake District as little impaired as possible as our population grows, we must refuse to cut up its most exquisite scenes by railways, and we must, so far as possible, preserve the tranquillity of the mountain-side. Mr. Hills says that there is no point, even in the wildest recesses of the Lake District, which is now more than ten miles distant from a railway station, —and surely that is proof that the limit has been reached at which the multiplication of railway lines should cease. We plead not for the enjoyment of the retired and fastidious, but for the enjoyment of the great masses of the people themselves. The Bill for the new railway extension should be promptly thrown out.
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