126 
NATURE NOTES 
that if the Selborne Society would make a gift of the animals they 
would be accepted and taken care of. Attempts to obtain English 
squirrels have since been made in various quarters, but up till 
now without success. 
It is to be regretted that as time goes on the picturesque at 
Golder’s Hill tends to disappear. Those responsible for its 
upkeep evince too great a disposition to sacrifice what is natural 
for what is convenient. What is required is to leave the place 
more alone and so to give Nature a chance in it. Efforts to make 
things appear rustic almost invariably end by making them look 
artificial, and this is essentially the case at Golder’s Hill. If 
there was one part of the grounds more charming and secluded 
than another when they were made over to the public it was the 
Old Pond Head. Among the reeds and sedges warblers chat- 
tered, and not long ago even the nightingales’ notes might have 
been heard. In the reeds, too, a large colony of wagtails 
roosted, but the alterations now in progress are driving them 
and other birds away. The dell in this part of the grounds is at 
present being levelled with a liberal layer of London clay, of 
which an ample supply is available at the workings of the new 
Tube close by. To these undesirable changes notice is being 
directed, but much damage has already been done. 
Thames Preservation . — On several occasions during the year 
the amenities of the Thames and its banks have been in danger, 
it being proposed to construct a dockyard at Lot’s Eyot, Kew, to 
erect a wharf and a galvanised iron shed at Cambridge House, 
Hampton Wick, and to destroy an eyot at Windsor. In each of 
these cases protests were lodged on behalf of the Society, and, in 
two cases at least, all danger has been averted. 
Avon Gorge. — Less success has attended the efforts which the 
Society, in common with many lovers of natural beauty, have 
been making to preserve the gorge of the Avon below Bristol 
from ruinous disfigurement by quarrying. No impression seems 
to have been made on the apparent indifference of the Corpora- 
tion of Bristol. 
Snowdon and Bettws-y-coed Light Railway. — In the Act of 
Parliament it is said that endeavours will be made not to 
interfere with the beauty of the country traversed. The 
mere approach of a railway with embankments and bridges to 
the beautiful environs of Snowdon is, however, such a desecra- 
tion that assurances of the kind seem to be but a small consola- 
tion for the sanctioning of the line. Here, again, utilitarian 
counsels have prevailed. 
Ullestvater. — Your Council has done all in its power to forward 
the appeal of the National Trust for funds to enable them to 
secure Gowbarrow Fell, Aira Force, and the adjacent foreshore 
of Ulleswater as a national park or reserve, and is glad to think 
the scheme is making considerable progress. 
Warley Woods. — Meanwhile it is due to the initiative of one of 
