John Craven
At the height of the Second World War, a group of remarkable experts came together for the first time. Their brief – an optimistic one – was to plan for a better future; to propose how the wilder areas of our countryside should be protected once the conflict was over.
Among these was architect and civil servant John Dower, a weekend rambler and fly-fisher born in Ilkley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
His great vision was of beautiful landscapes strictly preserved for the nation’s benefit, with access for “public open-air enjoyment”, and safeguards for wildlife, farming and historic buildings. Sadly, he did not see his dream become a reality. At the age of 47, four years before the first national park was established in the Peak District in 1951, Dower died from tuberculosis.
John Dower is high on my list of countryside heroes, and 80 years on from his original concept, his legacy is there for all of us to cherish – 15 national parks across Great Britain, covering around 10% of the land surface, with potentially three more now in the offing, one each in England, Scotland and Wales.
Unlike the USA, where national parks are true wildernesses belonging to the nation, ours can be both wild and cultivated, empty and bustling, the home of isolated farmers and thriving communities. They are a hotch-potch of different ownerships and vested interests, with officials acting as planning officers as well as wardens of nature. Such topographical and sociological diversity has long resulted in passionate debate about their purpose and management, of how to balance the needs of visitors and locals. Is it right that industry such as quarrying should scar the natural beauty? Should the excesses of rural tourism be halted before they destroy the fabric of the landscape everyone treks out of town to enjoy? House prices are higher in the parks – are demands being met for enough affordable homes?
Those and many more questions are legitimate and ongoing, but I reckon I’m in the majority in my belief that we are lucky to have ou
