ROADSIDE WASTES. 293 



to inclose the roadside wastes ; but Lord Cowper, with 

 very proper spirit, replied that apology was due rather 

 to himself by the author of the arbitrary and illegal 

 fencings, than by himself for removing them. It is 

 satisfactory to know that this encounter between the 

 two Hertfordshire magnates did not permanently disturb 

 the relations between Hatfield and Pansh anger. In 

 this case the public were fortunate in finding a great 

 landowner, able and willing to vindicate its rights, 

 as well as his own. But for that, it may be doubted 

 whether any smaller fry in the district would have 

 been willing to enter the lists against the Lord of 

 Hatfield. 



The other case was one in which I was personally 

 concerned. In 1875, I was residing at Ascot, where I 

 own a property adjoining the main road from Windsor 

 to Reading. This road is a conspicuous illustration of 

 the advantage of roadside wastes. On either side of it 

 are broad strips, where horsemen are able to ride on soft 

 turf, and which add much to the beauty of the district. 

 Returning from the Continent in the autumn of that 

 year, after some months of absence, I found that in 

 the interval the numerous owners of land and houses, 

 for nearly a mile on one side of this road near the 

 church, had inclosed the roadside waste, by advancing 

 their fences up to fifteen feet of the crown of the 

 metalled road, and had planted the land, thus filched 

 from the waste, with shrubs and trees. One of these 

 owners had erected along this new line, for about 500 

 yards, a most solid and expensive wall. In common 



