WCP2650

Letter (WCP2650.2540)

[1]1

Glen Ancrum

Guildford

Surrey

Dec[?] 222

Sir,

I have been following your contention in the W. Surrey[?] Times about "grass strips"3 with great interest, as I so thoroughly agree with you. You will see in that paper of yesterday[']s date a short report of my remarks on this subject at the Guildford District Highway Board4. [2] I have been lately in communication with the Commons Preservation Society5, in order to fortify myself with the best advice. I trust that the Godalming6 Board will resist the encroachment, & I have spoken private[l]y[?] to Mr. Ramsdon[?] & to another member in order to induce them to take the right[?] view of their duties but I fear the Clerk, Mr. Day[?] will not see[?] anything beyond [3]7 the act of William 4.th & the 15 feet rule8. Highway Clerks are paid a fixed sum per year, and therefore they do not care to do more than they can possibly help.

Fortunate[l]y[?] however, if the Board will not resist the encroachment, I am advised that any person has it in his power to do so — If you see your way to getting up a meeting at Godalming on this subject similar to the one just held at Hazlemere, I will gladly [4] come over & attend. We had a meeting of the Merrow Downs9 Commons here a few nights ago, & I dare say you might like to see the report which was in the Surrey Advertiser10 of Yesterday Morning Edition.

Yours faithfully | Clennox Tredcroft.11,[signature]

1
Text in another hand in the top right corner reads "71".
2
Text in another hand reads "[1884?]".
3

The grass strips either side of a roadway. Wallace's presidential address to the third annual meeting of the Land Nationalisation Society, presented on 18 June 1884, discussed the issue of the enclosure of roadside strips, and Wallace had been in contact with the Highway Board and the Commons Preservation Society in this context.

S371a: 1884. Alfred Russel Wallace Page. <http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S371A.htm>.

4
Highway Districts were set up in 1862 to maintain and repair highways. The authority governing the district was called the Highway Board. Wikipedia.
5
The Commons Preservation Society was founded in 1865 as a campaigning group to protect public rights of way and open spaces. It is now called the Open Spaces Society. Wikipedia.
6
Wallace lived in Godalming from 1881 to 1889 and designed and built his house there, Nutwood Cottage, Frith Hill, Godalming.
7
Text in another hand in the top right corner reads "72".
8
Under the General Highway Act, no tree, bush or shrub could be planted on a carriageway or within fifteen feet from the centre. Landowners had to cut down and remove any within 21 days once notice was served on them by a surveyor, or be subject to a fine of ten shillings. Chambers, Daniel (1836). The General Highway Act, Comprising the Statute 5 & 6 Will. IV. Cap. 50. London.160pp [p.74]. <https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jzpfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP7&dq=william++Iv+highway+fifteen&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q=william%20%20Iv%20highway%20fifteen&f=false>.
9
Merrow Downs is near Guildford.
10
The Surrey Advertiser is a newspaper for Surrey, England which was established in 1864.
11
There is a British Museum stamp in red ink just below the signature, to the left.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2650.2540)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2015-05-21] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-05-21] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP2650,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 20 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2650