IN AND ABOUT EPSOM 143 



get such good opportunities for enjoying Nature's 

 best adornments as in an old suburban town. 

 There you have more variety than in the country 

 proper, because of the specimen trees and shrubs 

 imported. 



There are many ways of approaching Epsom. 

 The last time I did one of the best, which takes 

 you to and fro Epsom from town without striking 

 the general traffic, and a charming walk before 

 and after racing, but, upon my word ! the bad 

 almost outbalanced the good, and I feel equal to 

 little more than organising a national petition to 

 the King and his Parliament to do something 

 for us. Cannot somebody throw the right sort 

 of oil on the troubled dusts, or, what is the 

 alternative, make footpaths everywhere from 

 which all wheel traffic should be forbidden? 

 Truly, I am so disappointed at being cut off at 

 almost every step from taking outdoor pleasure 

 that I keep searching about for refuge, of which 

 now have I none. For the automobilists, who 

 hate dust as much as anybody else, are now 

 illustrating the old idea of the Royal Academy 

 being crowded on a Derby day, because nobody 

 would be there — at the picture exhibition, I 

 mean. The byways, narrow as are many, are 

 crowded with the car-eerers, who, for the same 

 reasons as mine, take to them to avoid the main 

 arteries. A horrid pity I found last week s dis- 

 appointment, for I had my own route all on my 

 own, which I am selfish enough to like, barring 

 a jolly companion. Give yourself time, and you 

 may have some of the prettiest walking in Surrey 

 before and after business on the Downs com- 

 mences, and very cheaply too. My latest plan 

 is to drop down by an early train on the new 



