A discussion on the question of access to the countryside
Nothing can be more irritating to the owner or tenant of a property in the country than the incursion of people over his ground who break down hedges, leave gates open, trample crops, and do all the other things complained of periodically in the well-known series ' I Protest'. Nothing, on the other hand, can be more irritating to the lover of the country than that aggressive placard nailed to a tree, ' Trespassers will be prosecuted '. It is a watchdog over the very meadow he would like to roam in, and the grass may have been cut, and he can do, and wishes to do, no possible damage. He may have an inkling that it is bluff and he can't be prosecuted at all ; whether or no, he chances it and then possibly the trouble begins.
Today, what with motorists and rambling associations, the question is a more vexed one than ever, for more people than ever want- to wander over fields and woods, and it stands to reason that their very number aggravates the landlord all the more.
-In today's discussion it is hoped that a landlord and a farmer or a smallholder will argue the point for one side and a member of a rambling association and perhaps an individual lover of the country will give their point of view.