rious and
picturesque feature of the country traversed by the old Bath Road. All
that the Trust requires is "more force to its elbow," increased funds
for the preservation of the natural beauty of our English scenery, and
the increased appreciation on the part of the public and of the owners
of unspoilt rural scenes to extend its good work throughout the
counties of England.

A curious feature of vanished or vanishing England is the decay of our
canals, which here and there with their unused locks, broken towpaths,
and stagnant waters covered with weeds form a pathetic and melancholy
part of the landscape. If you look at the map of England you will see,
besides the blue curvings that mark the rivers, other threads of blue
that show the canals. Much was expected of them. They were built just
before the railway era. The whole country was covered by a network of
canals. Millions were spent upon their construction. For a brief space
they were prosperous. Some places, like our Berkshire Newbury, became
the centres of considerable traffic and had little harbours filled
with barges. Barge-building was a profitable industry. Fly-boats sped
along the surface of the canals conveying passengers to towns or
watering-places, and the company were very bright and enjoyed
themselves. But all are dead highways now, strangled by steam and by
the railways. The promoters of canals opposed the railways with might
and main, and tried to protect their properties. Hence the railways
were obliged to buy them up, and then left them lone and neglected.
The change was tragic. You can, even now, travel all over the country
by the means of these silent waterways. You start from London along
the Regent's Canal, which joins the Grand Junction Canal, and this
spreads forth northwards and joins other canals that ramify to the
Wash, to Manchester and Liverpool and Leeds. You can go to every great
town in England as far as York if you have patience and endless time.
There are four thousand miles of canals in England. They were not well
constructed; we built them just as we do many other things, without
any regular system, with no uniform depth or width or carrying
capacity, or size of locks or height of bridges. Canals bearing barges
of forty tons connect with those capable of bearing ninety tons. And
now most of them are derelict, with dilapidated banks, foul bottoms,
and shallow horse haulage. The bargemen have taken to other callings,
but occasionally