CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES 533 



response has been forthcoming ; more than a hundred workers have offered 

 their help in the attack on some twenty-one problems. But this does not 

 exhaust the possibilities. The Systematics Association will be glad to offer 

 what help it can to any individual or society with a systematic problem. 

 Wherever it seems probable that additional material or information from 

 other districts may help towards a solution, steps will be taken to obtain 

 the necessary assistance. Thanks to the resolution passed at this Con- 

 ference a year ago the British Association will inform all its Corresponding 

 Societies of what is needed and for this co-operation we of the Systematics 

 Association wish to express our gratitude. 



Dr. V.\UGHAN Cornish. — The preservation of Crown lands adjacent to 

 Catnberley, Bracknell and Ascot as an open space. 



Between Camberley, Bracknell and Ascot is an area of wild heaths and 

 woods about nine square miles in extent, which Norden's map of a.d 1607 

 shows to be part of the Forest of Windsor, as it was in Stuart times. ^ The 

 area now comes under the category of Crown Lands, the term applied to 

 properties of which the revenues were surrendered by King George III in 

 exchange for payments out of the Civil List, while the title to the freehold, 

 if that expression may be applied, remains with the Sovereign. Subject 

 to this ultimate right it appears to be for the nation to decide what use shall 

 be made of this land during their tenancy, which has already lasted for more 

 than a hundred years. 



Throughout the lifetime of the present generation these heaths and woods 

 have been open as a pleasant place for walking, riding and driving to the 

 residents of the towns and villages in the neighbouring parts of Berkshire 

 and Surrey. Since the introduction of the motor this great fresh-air space 

 has also come within reach of Londoners, for London is less than thirty 

 miles away. At the annual meeting of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific 

 Societies ^ in 1935 I urged that this great area of wild country should be 

 preserved as an open space for the benefit of the nation. But now the 

 Commissioners of Crown Lands have enclosed the area with barbed wire 

 and blocked the rough roads or drives with locked gates. Smaller gates, 

 usable only by foot passengers, are left open, but here notices are put up 

 saying ' No footpath.' The Commissioners state that they are within 

 their rights in so acting, and in the policy of building development ; that 

 nearly the whole of this area was bought by the Commissioners for develop- 

 ment ; that Parliament has always been told firmly that the Commissioners 

 must retain the right to develop at their discretion land bought for the 

 purpose ; and that any land beyond one acre required by local authorities 

 as a public open space must be paid for. 



In the provisional planning scheme of the Frimley and Camberley Urban 

 District Council it was proposed that some five acres (more or less) of this 

 area should be purchased out of the rates as a public recreation ground. 

 Ratepayers being invited to send in objections to the planning scheme, 

 I suggested that the better way would be to apply for the reservation of 

 the whole area, several square miles in extent, for the benefit of the nation 

 without further payment, and I also submitted my memorandum on the 

 subject to the Surrey County Council, Berkshire County Council, the Council 



1 Norden was surveyor of the Crown Woods and Forests. 



^ Presidential Address, Regional Survey Section, since embodied in the author's 

 book on The Preservation of our Scenery (Cambridge University Press). 



