OUR FORGOTTEN RIVERS.
THE rush to the sea in August will always form the main "migration route" of English holiday-seekers. A side stream, and one which tends to grow, moves in the opposite direction, partly to scattered country quarters, but mainly to the valley and banks of the Thames. The attraction of the river annually exercises a greater influence. Town dwellers need refreshment rather than " bracing," or in any case seek refreshment first ; and they find this more readily in the gentle airs, and by the running waters, the meadows, weirs, and trees of the river, than in the the glare and overpowering sun and salt airs of the coast. The migration to the sea is a natural impulse to those living in natural surroundings. Country people living inland feel this change to be one of the needs of life. But as the urban life is artificial, some tran- sition step is needed between town and sea ; and this is sought more and more amid riverine scenery, for the presence of water, either sea, lake, or stream, is essential as an element in August holidays. The experiment began on the Thames, and was first adventured, in a tentative way, in boats, and by men only, — mostly young men. Like the Danish invasions, these enterprises began by exploration. Then the visits were repeated; and lastly settlements were made. But there was a long interval between the days of rowing and camping, and those of renting cottages, vicarages, and farmhouses within reach of the river from Staines to Oxford, and the building of what are in effect whole colonies of houses, great and small, structures which adorn cities like Dresden, Munich, Frank- fort, and Hanover. If these institutions are to be temples of frivolity, or imitation, or pessimistic "problem plays," they will affect German life more deeply than they would affect English life, which is less sentimental and more objective. So at least the Kaiser thinks, and probably he is right. But will the Kaiser be able to bring Germany back to the old idealism, and is it desirable that he should ? The two ques- tions are really one question, if one holds, as we do, that the older German idealism was the product of a condition which has passed away, and that it had the defects of that period. It was, we think, marked by thinness, by sentimentalism, by a lack of balance, of steadying power. It had great words on its lips and many beautiful thoughts in its heart, but its con- demnation is that in the hour of crisis it has not been sufficient for German needs. Its iridescent hues attracted all imaginative minds, but it lacked a grasp of the real world; and hence its comparative barrenness, hence its inability to stand against the torrent of materialism which has overflowed Germany. We think, in a word, that the radical defect of the old German idealism was its subjective character, its attempt to construct the world out of the moral consciousness. The shock of mere material energy was, we may perhaps argue, needful to rouse the German nature and to compel it to face the problem of real life. The great saying of Goethe in " Wilhelm Meister "—" Your America is here or nowhere," was the trumpet-call of an objective as opposed to a merely subjective idealism. As Goethe had freed himself from his early sentimentalism, so did he hope to free the German people. But the process could not be effected by teaching, but only by action. It was for Germany to plunge into the world of realities in order to find her soul. It is a painful process, involving not a little strife, stern repression, and fierce revolt, dominance of selfish interests, clash of contend- ing forces, supremacy of the body over the soul. It seems at times as though the sacrifice were too great ; and we fancy is in communication with the great natural waterways of
which the Severn is the chief, and the change of scene so enjoyed is far more striking than any to be obtained on the Lower Thames or its tributary streams. The rivers of Devon have the disadvantage attaching to all these Western valleys, that their climate is relaxing. For beauty they are surpassed by few. But there are degrees of climate on these streams, the Taw and Torridge in the north being far less enervating than the Exe or Teign in the south. But if so long a journey be undertaken at all, the banks of the Tamar should be the goal. With Plymouth Haven below and the moorland steams above, this is a finer and more bracing Dart ; a Devon river without the drawbacks of the usual Devon climate. But there are rivers in plenty within easy reach of London itself, navigable for boats, with all the charm of the typical riverine scenery of this country, which are almost forgotten when the subject of the " autumn migration " from cities is uppermost. They are of all sizes, from the Bedford Ouse to the little Stort dividing Essex and Hertfordshire, or the upper waters of the Lea. The former is perhaps as good an example of the " common form " of our Midland and South-Eastern rivers as can be found. It is broad, deep, clear, and bright, much peopled by fish, sparsely navigated, and passes by three considerable and interesting towns, Bed- ford, Huntingdon, and St. Ives, before it enters the Fen. Its banks abound in prosperous farms, good houses, pretty villages, and the rich domestic scenery of rural England. There are no crowded populations, no slams, no factories, no squalor and dirt. It is not exciting scenery, but infinitely restful and pleasing. Or take the tiny Stort, on which small boats can row, though the traffic is not commercial. This little river, a tributary of the Lea, shows in miniature all the charms of the larger streams, within half an hour of London. It has its mills and dams and weirs, its rich meadows and cattle, reeds, flowers and fish, willows and shade, and all the freshness which one longs for in August heats. On these minor rivers the mills are one of the most important, as they are one of the most ancient, of artificial contributions to landscape. The still mill-pool, the good tall building, the sluices, and the rushing wheel give exactly the necessary contrast between stillness and motion, level lines and perpendicular lines, which would otherwise be wanting in our slower streams and rivers.
Further east, omitting the Broads, we have much charming estuary scenery both in Suffolk and in Essex. The former is for family use in the riverside holiday at Maidenhead, Pang- bourne, Goring, and Streatley.
The demand for such quarters is now much in excess of the supply, and rents are often higher than the price of sea- side lodgings. But there is no reason why the Lower Thames, with the Wye, and the courses of the Ant, the Bare, and the Wensum in the Broad district, should monopolise the whole of this exodus to the streamside. There are a score of "forgotten rivers" almost or quite as beautiful as the Thames itself, showing attractions equal to the rivers of Broadland, though not set among marshes, which to many tastes are positively unpleasing. Many of these rivers flow through scenery so bold and striking as to satisfy the desire for change of outline in landscape which town life sometimes engenders. Near such streams there is room for thousands of visitors if existing accommodation can be used ; and fresh facilities for residence by their refreshing waters will rapidly follow the evidence of such demand. Foremost among these vacant river playgrounds are the Upper Severn and its tributaries, the Teme and the Avon. Each differs both in character and scenery. The rapid waters of the Upper Severn have a touch of romance which the more placid Avon lacks. Bold, large hills, and landscape on a large scale, are the characteristics of the Severn. The Avon, which every one knows at Stratford, is a far more imposing and beautiful river on the lower reaches of its course between Stratford and its junction with the Severn. The Vale of Evesham, the exquisite mills and weirs, the broad stream, meadows, and orchards of plums and pears make this one of the most charming of the slower streams of England. It is a more beautiful Thames, and infinitely less frequented. The course of the Teme, from Ludlow downwards, alternates between flat valleys and hill- sides. Less accessible than the Severn or the Stratford Avon, it is almost as charming, and less frequented than either. It
the better known, though far less appreciated than its pictur- esqueness and the freshness of its climate warrant. The banks of the lakelike Alde, above Aldeburgh town, and the almost un- visited shores of the Woodbridge river are a mong the most charm- ing of these tidal and navigable Suffolk streams. The Orwell itself, from Harwich to Ipswich, has long been a favourite stream with the boating interest in the Eastern Counties. Bat the possible accommodation is scanty. Yachting at Harwich and the " seaside " at Felixstowe have diverted attention from the amenities of the river itself. But the most strangely forgotten of our Southern rivers are those fine Sussex streams, the Arun and the Rother, from Pullborough, at the entrance of their broad and smiling valleys, to Amberley Castle and Arundel Bridge. While the great middle.class angling societies eagerly purchase the fishing Tights on these streams and run special trains for their members to enjoy the contemplative pastime of float-fishing, of which Izaak Walton was such a master, among the pike, bream, chub, roach, and barbel which swarm in their deep channels, the opportunities of boating, the charming walks by river and meadow, the climb up the South Downs, and ex- ploring of castles, villages, and churches seem almost neg- lected by those who might find far less to interest and none of the quiet and repose of these haunts on the crowded Thames. Except during Goodwood races the villages on these rivers are without visitors, except the " box-anglers." There is little accommodation and little encouragement to visit them. The system by which every owner of a decent cottage near the Thames can make his rent twice over during the summer months has not yet begun in these fine Sussex valleys, and few strangers have ever made trial even of those famous Sussex dainties, an Arundel sole or an Amberley trout. Arundel itself is visited for a day, but Littlehampton and the seashore, not the inland streams, are the tourists' objective.
The Dorsetshire Stour and the Salisbury Avon, especially the latter, have the charm, not only of exceptional scenery, but of swift-flowing waters. They resemble the Itchen and Test, but are more suited for boating, where this is permitted, more accessible, and less exclusively reserved forl the pleasure of riparian owners. The Trent and its tributaries offer a further and delightful field for riverside holidays, and one which is in the main forgotten by South Country residents, and not much frequented even by the city dwellers of the Midlands. The main need is not to find suitable rivers as holiday haunts, but to develop and preserve them for the full enjoyment of their amenities. Pioneers on our forgotten streams, who are exploring them as the early boating parties did the Thames, complain that the locks are in bad order, the inn accommodation bad, boats difficult to procure, and country lodgings impossible to find. Much unnecessary damage to the streams is also caused by small dirty factories, and in some cases, though not frequently, the riverine population is disagreeable and disorderly. There is room for some enter- prising association of public-spirited men taking the form, say, of a company to buy up the rights of controlling and "developing" some of our minor, but not least beautiful, streams as holiday playgrounds. On the Thames, the Con- servancy does a great deal more in preserving the beauty of the banks and regulating the behaviour of the tourists and river-people than is generally credited to that body. But an association with proper powers might undertake something of the same kind elsewhere, and, in addition, provide boats, build hotels and cottages at different points, fix a scale of charges, maintain a staff whose duties should embrace that of keeping a strict watch against pollution of the stream, or the leaving of refuse on the banks or in the water, issue fishing licenses, preserve the river-birds, and after paying a dividend limited to a strictly reasonable figure, hand over surplus proceeds, if any, to the County Councils for local improvements.
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