A Saved Headland
It was cheering to hear this week that the approaches to Morte Point in North Devon have been permanently saved, through local generosity and the National Trust. Some of us have long regarded Morte Point, Baggy Point, Ea 'Aland and St. David's Head as the outstanding glories of the West Coast. The last of these four, and perhaps the greatest, is in most need of permanent preservation, though there is no immediate threat to the place itself. The same cannot be said of the birds, especially peregrine and chough that belong to the locality. The region has. been a happy hunting ground of the more cynical collector and more " watchers," in the technical sense, are needed. In the course of the negotiations for saving the approaches to Morte. Point I have come upon a form of misunderstanding that I think, is widely spread. There is no reason in the world why an area " scheduled " for preservation from building or owned by the National Trust should not continue in full agricultural use. There are many instances—Glastonbury Tor, which gives almost the best of circular views within the island, is still to. be grazed,
though the stock interfere in some measure with the tourist. Again, when. Lord Brocket scheduled .a hundred acres along
side the Devil's Dyke in Hertfordshire, he said specifically that it would be fanned as it had long been farmed. There will be no disturbance of suitable husbandry unless the anti- quarians desire to pursue their excavations, for the land lies at the edge, possibly within, a Belgic Oppidum. More than this, it is generally felt that the best of all forms of Preservation
• is to keep the ground " in good heart," as the 'farmers' phrase is:
* * * *
Previous page
