Association for the Preservation of Rural Scotland (A.P.R.S.) 

ANNUAL REPORT 1937 

44 QUEEN STREET.. EDINBURGH, 2 Telephone, 30317 

OFFICE BEARERS 

Honorary President 

The Rt. Hon. THE EARL OF CRAWFORD & BALCARRES, K.T. 

President 

The Rt. Hon. THE EARL OF HADDINGTON, M.C. 

Joint Vice-Presidents 

Sir JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL, Bt., K.T. Sir IAIN COLQUHOUN, Bt., D.S.O. 

Chairman of Council 

Hon. W. T. H. SCOTT, MASTER OF POLWARTH 

Joint Hon. Secretaries 

F. C. MEARS, A.R.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. LESLIE G. THOMSON, A.R.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. 

Hon. Treasurer 

Professor F. G. BAILY, M.A., M.I.E.E., etc. 

Organising Secretary 

EDWARD M’GEGAN 

OFFICE: 44 QUEEN STREET, EDINBURGH 

Telephone 30317 

THE COUNCIL 

Chairman-Hon. W. T. H. SCOTT, MASTER OF POLWARTH 

The Most Hon. THE MARCHIONESS OF ABERDEEN AND TEMAIR. 

The Right Hon. THE COUNTESS OF MINTO. 

Ex-Lord Provost HENRY ALEXANDER (Aberdeen). 

W. F. ARBUCKLE. 

Prof. F. G. BAILY. 

J. BARTHOLOMEW. 

H. MORTIMER BATTEN. 

B. HALL BLYTH. 

Sir D. Y. CAMERON. 

The Right Hon. THE EARL OF CASSILLIS. 

Mrs COWAN. 

K. C. FERGUSON. 

Miss I. F. GRANT. 

W. GRANT. 

Sir ROBERT GREIG. 

Mrs G. HEDDERWICK

H. R. G. INGLIS.

 W. H. JOHNSON. 

T. MACKINTOSH. 

G. OGILVY. 

B. N. H. ORPHOOT. 

J. WILSON PATERSON. 

The Right Hon. LORD POLWARTH. 

Rev. A. E. ROBERTSON. 

J. M. RUSK. 

Capt. W. P. M. RUSSELL

M.C. Major S. STRANG STEEL.

Sir JOHN SUTHERLAND. 

P. THOMSEN. 

C. H. THOMSON. 

WM. WALKER. 

Sir W. E. WHYTE. 

Ex-Officio Members 

The Lady GEORGE CAMPBELL, President, Cowal Committee. 

The Right Hon. THE EARL OF GALLOWAY, Chairman, Galloway Branch. 

Lt.-Col. ARCHIBALD STIRLING, Chairman, Stirling and District Branch. 

The Right Hon. THE EARL OF MORAY, President, Moray and Nairn Branch. 

The Right Hon. THE EARL OF HADDINGTON, Chairman, Border Branch. 

Sir JOHN BUCHANAN-JARDINE, Bt., President, Dumfriesshire Branch. 

Also Branch Secretaries (vide list on p. 16). 

REPRESENTATIVES OF CONSTITUENT BODIES

REPRESENTATIVES OF AFFILIATED SOCIETIES 

THE Council have pleasure in submitting the Annual Report of the Association, together with a Statement of Finances for the year ended 31st December 1936. 

Cordial thanks are again due to the office-bearers of the Association for their personal services during the course of the past year. 

The Council also desire to thank the Carnegie United Kingdom Trustees for their continued support, a sum of £1000 having been granted to the Association for the period 1936-1938. 

The Press has to be warmly thanked for its interest in the objects and work of the Association. 

INTRODUCTION. 

In a speech delivered at the annual dinner of the Convention of Royal Burghs of Scotland, held in Edinburgh on 6th April 1937, the Right Hon. Walter Elliot, Secretary of State for Scotland, said that Scotland had suffered as very few countries had suffered during the Industrial Revolution and the years which had followed that great change. “The ancient and historic beauties of Scotland have been greatly defaced, and the people of Scotland are herded together in surroundings which are not worthy of people whose history is so worthy as ours. It is not decent. It is not humane.” 

Whether the words of the Scottish Secretary be regarded as an overstatement or as an understatement there can be no doubt that there is a great and growing need for a body like the A.P.R.S. The conditions of modern life in both town and country are rapidly changing. Developments in housing, industry and transport are exerting a marked effect on urban and rural districts alike; and that effect is far from being an unmixed blessing. Improved facilities for transport are rapidly drawing town and country closer together, with advantages to both, but with disadvantages which are frequently brought to the notice of the Association. 

Industrial changes, whether due to progress or to decay, often create problems of a kind with which the Association was formed to deal. Housing developments, whether on a large or on a small scale, constantly point to the need for greater architectural amenity, for Town Planning or for the preservation of old buildings. It is due to lack of foresight and to mishandling of immediate needs and possibilities in the past that “the ancient and historic beauties of Scotland have been greatly defaced”; and the same causes of defacement are at work to-day. There are many agencies endeavouring to counteract the defacing tendencies in modern developments, while seeking to encourage the best elements which these developments possess; and among these agencies the A.P.R.S. has its own work to do. The following pages contain a record of a few things which the Association has done during 1936 and the early part of 1937. 

Among these activities attention is especially drawn to the account of the action which the Council of the Association have taken with regard to the Caledonian Power Scheme. The Council have consistently opposed the scheme as presented by its promoters since it was first brought forward in November 1935, and they feel that they can claim some share of the credit for the defeat of the Bills in which it was brought before the House of Commons in March 1936 and in March 1937. But though the scheme has been rejected twice by the House of Commons within a year, the Council are fully aware that they will require to be as vigilant throughout 1937 as they were in 1936. The book of photographs,* entitled Scotland’s Heritage of Beauty as Affected by Water Power Schemes, which was recently sent to every member of the Association, is essentially a call to constructive action, for the Association, far from being restrictive or negative in its policy, would welcome a wise development of industry in the Highlands such as would benefit the people and preserve the beauty of the country to the maximum. 

THE COUNCIL 

The deaths of the following members of Council are recorded with deep regret- 

Mr JOHN BEGG, F.R.I.B.A. 

Mr G. A. CONNOR. 

Sir JAMES NORVAL. 

The Council have met regularly on the first Wednesday of each month (August and September excepted), and attendances have been uniformly good. By courtesy of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, the monthly meetings of the Council have been held at 15 Rutland Square. The arrangement has proved convenient to members of the Council, and it is desired to thank the Royal Incorporation very cordially for this facility. 

CALEDONIAN POWER SCHEME 

The Caledonian Power Scheme, promoted by the British Oxygen Company, to harness the waters of Glengarry and Glenmoriston for the purpose of producing calcium carbide at Corpach, has again been the subject of long and careful consideration by the Council and by their Hydro-Electric Committee. 

Our last Annual Report dealt fully with the action which the Council took in connection with the Bill, embodying the scheme, which was rejected on the Second Reading by the House of Commons on 18th March 1936 by 199 votes to 63. Shortly after this date there were indications that the Caledonian Power Scheme or other schemes, involving dangers to the amenities of the Highlands, would be brought forward in the near future. The Council of the Association therefore again wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland, urging that it was a matter of urgent national and public importance that the enquiry for which they had asked in January 1936 into the operation of the hydro-electric undertakings already in existence in Scotland should be carried out in order to ascertain whether their results justified the destruction they had caused. (The nature and the extent of this enquiry were fully set forth in our last Annual Report.) The Secretary of State for Scotland replied that there was reason to believe that the Caledonian Power Scheme would again come before Parliament in the new session; and that, although a new Provisional Order or Private Bill had not yet been deposited, it would be inappropriate to appoint a Committee to make an enquiry on a matter which might shortly be the subject of investigation by Parliament. 

The Hydro-Electric Committee of the Council closely watched further developments. In November the promoters of the Caledonian Power Scheme lodged a new Draft Provisional Order at the Scottish Office; and, at their meeting in January 1937, the Council decided to present a petition against the scheme and to act as far as possible in cooperation with other objectors. The Petition was duly prepared and presented. It protested against the dispossession of crofters and the serious injury to the amenities of the district which would result if the scheme were carried out; and it also protested against the giving of the proposed powers over a large area of country to a commercial company, and submitted that no public or local advantage would result therefrom which would justify the injury which would be done to the district. The Council also wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland urging that if the Draft Provisional Order was proceeded with it should be taken as a Private Bill in Parliament and not as the subject of an Enquiry by a Commission sitting in Scotland. 

The Parliamentary authorities having decided that the scheme should proceed as a Private Bill in Parliament, the Council immediately proceeded to bring their views before the Members of both Houses. A book, entitled Scotland’s Heritage of Beauty as Affected by Water Power Schemes, presenting photographs of the country which would be affected by the Caledonian Power Scheme and of scenes affected by other hydro-electric schemes or undertakings in Scotland, had been prepared by the Council, and a copy was sent to every Member of the House of Lords and the House of Commons a few days before the Second Reading of the Caledonian Power Bill. The Council also sent a memorandum on the economic position of the scheme to each of the Scottish Members of Parliament. The Bill was defeated on the Second Reading in the House of Commons on 10th March by 188 votes to 140. 

Although the second Caledonian Power Bill has been rejected by the House of Commons, it is clear that the area of the Highlands which would have been affected by the Bill has not been definitely saved from serious loss to the inhabitants of the glens situated therein or from injury to its amenity. In his speech on the Second Reading of the Bill, the Secretary of State for Scotland said that the Government could not divest itself of responsibility, and it would take up the question of how best the country could be provided with a supply of carbide and where best that supply of carbide could be produced. The Minister for Co-ordination of Defence announced on 17th March in the House of Commons that, in pursuance of the statement made in the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Scotland on 10th March, he had now taken steps, in consultation with other Ministers concerned, to set up a small Committee composed of persons not in the Government service to advise the Government how best the country could be provided with a supply of calcium carbide and allied products, and where best the supply could be produced. Further, it was reported in the Press of 20th March that in a speech delivered to the Electrical Development Association in London on 19th March, the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence had suggested that an extension of the grid system might be utilised advantageously in the production of calcium carbide in a distant part of western Scotland. In view of these statements the Council of the Association have submitted to the Minister for Co-ordination of Defence for his consideration the request which they made to the Secretary of State for Scotland in January 1936 for an enquiry into the operation of the hydro-electric undertakings already in existence in Scotland; and have expressed the view that in any consideration of the site where calcium carbide might best be produced in this country such an enquiry as the Council have asked for should be included in the terms of reference. The Council have also requested that they might be given the opportunity to give evidence before the Committee which the Minister is appointing. 

The Council are closely watching further developments. They wish to make it clear that the policy of the Association towards hydro-electric power schemes is that they will not oppose any schemes that are undoubtedly beneficial to the district concerned or desirable from a national point of view, and will co-operate in such schemes in every way possible in order to ensure that the harm done to scenery and other amenities is as small as possible. They consider, however, that before any new schemes are permitted very full enquiry should be made into the working and results of all the existing hydro-electric power undertakings in Scotland. Should the Government decide that the proposed carbide factory should be established at Corpach or at some other site in Scotland, and that hydro-electric power should be utilised in the manufacture of the carbide, the Association will, of course, do its utmost to secure that the amenity of the district shall, as far as possible, be preserved. 

The Council express their thanks to the Council for the Preservation of Rural England for their co-operation in opposing the Caledonian Power Bill. 

THE PRESERVATION OF OLD HOUSES 

The Council have given much consideration to the subject of the preservation and reconditioning of old houses. The anxiety which they expressed in their previous Annual Report at the probability that the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1935, would lead to the demolition of large numbers of old houses of distinctively Scottish character in towns and villages throughout the country 

has been more than justified. From county after county have come reports of the demolition or threatened demolition of such houses; and it cannot be too strongly emphasised that in many cases the houses swept away were an integral and organic part of their town or village, and that their demolition therefore removes not only a valuable ancient heritage but a distinctive element in the contemporary environment and life of the community. Scotland is not rich in old houses. It is therefore of increasing importance that as many as possible of the old houses which remain should be carefully preserved and, where necessary, reconditioned, and this not so much for the preservation of “museum pieces” as for the retention of the essential character of our Scottish burghs and villages. The Council recognise that the problem is a difficult one, for hitherto no grant has been made under the Housing Acts, with the exception of the Housing (Rural Workers) Acts, for the preservation and reconditioning of such houses, and the position of Local Authorities has, in consequence, presented many difficulties. Many Local Authorities and other bodies, including the National Trust for Scotland and the A.P.R.S., have, without success, long pressed the Government to allow such work to qualify for housing grants. The preservation of old buildings was the subject of debates in the House of Commons on 10th February 1937, and in the House of Lords on 16th March. It is therefore with some satisfaction that the Council record that on 23rd March the Secretary of State for Scotland, in reply to a question as to whether he was in a position to make any statement with regard to the representations made to him about the desirability of preserving houses which, though unfit, presented features of architectural or historic interest, said:- 

“… I shall be glad to consider giving assistance under the Acts of 1930 and 1935 for new houses in which a local authority may incorporate features of architectural, historic or artistic interest belonging to existing buildings on the site. … Any case will be examined ad hoc and if it were thought desirable to preserve any feature such as an old wall it could be preserved under the ruling I have given.” 

This concession does not fully meet the emergency which has arisen, but it is a step in the right direction, and the Council will continue to press, in co-operation with other bodies, for a still larger measure of support. 

In the course of the Council’s consideration of the subject of the preservation and reconditioning of old houses Mr William Walker, a member of the Council, submitted a memorandum on Masonry Repairs. The Council feel that this memorandum should be brought to the notice of the members of the Association, and it is therefore printed below:- 

REFLECTIONS UPON MASONRY REPAIRS 

IN RELATION TO COUNTRY WAYS AND PRESENT-DAY CONDITIONS IN SCOTLAND 

Skilled advisers interested in preserving good freestone buildings and in the attainment of a high standard of masonry craftsmanship recommend upon these the discontinuance of cement re-pointing or cement patching. 

Mixtures of cement and lime used in repairs of this nature are not recommended. 

Good lime mortar possesses natural qualities suited to stone construction. Cement mixtures applied to stonework in its repair instead of lime formerly employed may cause serious damage to masonry. 

The irregularities upon wall surfaces caused by projecting portions of cement applied to the stones and their interspace are favourable to freestone deterioration; moisture admitted in the usual way cannot readily leave a wall in this condition, gradual saturation of the stonework by damp may happen. 

Normal atmospheric humidity leaves dampness upon wall surfaces. In certain situations water entering cement attached to freestone may produce a corroding activity. In time this will cause wastage of stonework by reducing to sandy powder the material affected. 

Moisture which has lodged within a wall may cause recurring trouble if exit to its outer surfaces is retarded. Cement surfaces are of slight porosity, they do not assist speedy exudation of moisture. 

The action of frost upon moisture confined within a wall loosens contact of mortar with stone. 

During slow departure of moisture from a wall the edges of cement patches attached to stonework may become relieved from their original close contact by frost or by other agencies. 

The edges of lime mortar adhere to stonework, they are not readily detached therefrom by any normal climatic change. 

Surfaces of hardened lime mortar are porous, these do not prevent exudation of moisture; evaporation is assisted by lime surfaces, wall dryness may therefore be expected where lime pointing has been applied. 

Fresh lime pointing may reduce damp patches in domestic buildings; in certain situations damp patches may be eradicated by skilful lime pointing restoration. 

The habit of giving no attention to the exterior surfaces of a cottage or building until water enters the decaying mortar has been the cause of much fabric deterioration in freestone property. In certain situations lime mortar appears to retain its durability unimpaired over very long periods (centuries), but fifty or sixty years (in villages sometimes) may produce signs of natural decay in mortar; careful re-pointing then becomes necessary. 

Only stone lime freshly burnt should be used for exterior work, this should be delivered from the kiln in lumps (shells). A mixture of fresh lime “shells” and “sharp sand” (clean river sand is unrivalled in good qualities) makes a mortar of excellent quality when prepared in the regular way. 

Old stone constructions have become reconditioned for use by restoration in good lime mortar. 

Friable stone surfaces cannot regain hardness by cement patching. Freshly applied lime mortar of good quality incorporates readily with hard and with soft (not decaying) freestone. 

The durable properties of certain types of freestone are attacked and destroyed by wastage which sets in when cement and dampness assist this evil. Limewash upon freestone, frequently applied, will arrest some forms of stone wastage (cement must be removed). 

Hard bricks set in heavy cement situated where moisture finds entry to the fabric interior have been known to perish. There appears, however, to be less risk of trouble in the use of ordinary cement mortar in brick construction when sand is freely used in the mixture. 

DOLLAR, 

November, 1936. 

WILLIAM WALKER. 

THE REGULATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS 

It is increasingly made evident to the Association, by the observation of its members, by complaints made directly or indirectly to the Association, by correspondence with bodies having kindred aims, and from other sources that the evil of indiscriminate roadside advertising is growing. 

Local Authorities in Scotland have no powers under the Advertisements Regulation Acts of 1907 and 1925, although these Acts were passed as applying to Scotland as well as to England and Wales; and Town Planning has progressed so little in Scotland that section 46 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1932, can scarcely be regarded as providing any immediately practicable remedy of the evil. It is, indeed, doubtful, even though Scottish Local Authorities had powers under the Advertisements Regulation Acts and had taken fuller advantage of the Town and Country Planning Act, if the evil could adequately be coped with under these Acts; for in England and Wales, where all or nearly all the County Councils have adopted by-laws under the Advertisements Regulation Acts, and where Town Planning has made wide and rapid progress, a situation has been reached which seems to call for further and more effective legislation. 

In 1934, for example, the Scapa Society, whose chief activity is the prevention of disfigurement by unsightly advertising, stated in their Annual Report that “there can be no doubt that in the present condition of affairs the exercise of a more effective control by public authorities over outdoor advertising is indispensable if the amenity of our towns and villages and open country is to be protected. . . . The possibility and desirability of substituting a constructive system of control of outdoor advertisements by licence for a merely restrictive system of prosecution under by-laws after an offence has actually been committed, has been the subject of further discussion between the Society and the chief associations of advertisers. The principal advertisers’ organisations have now accepted the general principle of licensing, and a Draft Bill has been prepared by the Society which will, it is hoped, eventually form the basis of a measure which will have their substantial agreement.” 

The Council of the A.P.R.S. have consistently endeavoured for some years now to have the evil dealt with in Scotland by a system of licensing under an Act of Parliament, and in this aim they have co-operated with the Association of County Councils in Scotland, who have drafted a Bill embodying this principle. The Council are keeping in touch with the Association of County Councils, and with the Scapa Society and the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, and it is hoped that some progress may be made towards the solution of the problem in the course of 1937. 

THE POLLUTION OF RIVERS 

The outstanding events of the year in connection with the prevention of river pollution in Scotland were the publication of the Sixth Report of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Rivers Pollution Prevention and the steps taken towards the formation of a Standing Joint Committee representative of associations interested in the subject. 

The Scottish Advisory Committee’s Report referred to is entitled “Suggested Amendments of the Law on Rivers Pollution Prevention” (H.M. Stationery Office, 3d.). It deals with the existing law and its administration, and the Advisory Committee frankly state:- 

“We have definitely come to the conclusion that a satisfactory solution of the problem of rivers pollution is not possible under the present administrative arrangements. The evidence received and the inspections made have convinced us beyond all doubt that in order to secure the purification of rivers a drastic change in these arrangements is necessary.” 

The Report also gives proposals for effecting a remedy of what the Advisory Committee consider the more urgent and serious difficulties. 

The formation of the Standing Joint Committee representative of associations interested in the subject of rivers pollution prevention was due mainly to the initiative of the A.P.R.S. In September last a preliminary conference on the subject was held by representatives of several societies, and in January the Committee was, with the authority of the constituent associations, duly constituted as the Standing Joint Committee on Rivers Pollution Prevention in Scotland. The Associations represented on the Joint Committee are the A.P.R.S., the Scottish Travel Association, the Scottish Land and Property Federation, the Association of Scottish District Salmon Fishery Boards, the Scottish Anglers’ Association, the National Angling Clubs’ Association, the Salmon Net Fishery Association of Scotland and the Scottish Salmon Angling Federation. The Chairman of the Committee is Professor F. G. Baily; the Secretary, Mr Richard Gibson, 7 Albyn Place, Edinburgh. The Committee will strongly support the demand for improvements in control and procedure for the prevention of pollution, and will offer the wide knowledge of its constituent associations to aid in the formation of the new scheme of control. 

The Council have also to report that they have continued to give attention to the deplorable condition of the River Forth. Following upon a communication from the Stirlingshire Branch of the Association stating that there was strong local feeling regarding the condition of the Forth at and near Stirling, the Council wrote to the Scottish Advisory Committee on Rivers Pollution Prevention urging the Committee to give the matter their early consideration. 

In April the Committee replied that they had agreed to continue with all expedition the investigations being made into conditions on the River Forth. The Stirlingshire Branch thereupon prepared a detailed report on the subject and the report was duly submitted to the Committee. In July the Association was asked to nominate witnesses to give oral evidence before the Committee. Professor Baily and Colonel Archibald Stirling, Chairman of the Stirlingshire Branch, were nominated, and in December attended at a meeting of the Committee and gave their evidence. 

ROADS AND BRIDGES 

The Trunk Roads Act, 1936, which was passed last December, will have important effects throughout the country. The Act provides that the Minister of Transport shall be the highway authority for the principal roads in Great Britain which constitute the national system of routes for through traffic. No road which is within any large burgh as defined in the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, shall, by virtue of the Act, become a trunk road. Subject to certain provisions, the functions of the highway authority under sections I and II of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act, 1935 (dealing respectively with power to adopt standard widths for roads and restriction of building development along frontages of certain roads) shall not be exercisable by the Minister, but shall, in relation to trunk roads, be exercisable by the County Council. The Act means that the responsibility for about 4500 miles of trunk roads is transferred from County Councils to the Minister of Transport. 

Shortly after the Act was passed the Ministry of Transport published a very valuable Memorandum on the Lay-out and Construction of Roads (H.M. Stationery Office, 6d.). The memorandum states that “the Minister specially desires that every care should be taken not merely to safeguard existing amenities but to add to them. The beauty and interest of the countryside depend largely upon the preservation of ancient cottages and other picturesque wayside buildings, and in studying the alignment of the road, the effect upon amenities should be carefully borne in mind.” Suggestions in regard to the preservation and enhancement of amenities, including verges and tree planting, fencing, the suitable development of frontages at junctions and roundabouts, etc., are given; and Authorities who are contemplating bridge projects of importance, or at sites of historical interest or natural beauty, are urged to consult the Royal Fine Art Commission before they commit themselves to a particular design. The Council would especially commend the memorandum to the notice of the Branches of the A.P.R.S. 

The Council and the Border Branch gave close attention to the proposal to widen the Rennie Bridge at Kelso. At the request of the Council the Earl of Haddington wrote, as President of the Association, to the County Council of Roxburgh and to the Town Council of Kelso, expressing the unanimous opinion of the Council of the A.P.R.S. that every effort should be made to retain the Bridge as it stands. The Council record with pleasure that the proposal to widen the Bridge has been abandoned. 

TREE PLANTING 

In June the Council sent to every member of the Association a copy of a pamphlet entitled “Trees in Towns,” written by Professor F. G. Baily and published jointly by the Cockburn Association of Edinburgh and the A.P.R.S. The pamphlet gives suggestions for planting and a list of hardy trees tolerant of smoke. It aroused considerable interest in the subject and was warmly praised by many members of the Association. 

The Council also supported the movement for Coronation Tree Planting. They wrote to the Branches of the Association urging them to further the movement in every possible way, and also giving suggestions for schemes; and they were represented at the meeting called by the Coronation Planting Committee which was held at the Guildhall, London, on 26th November. 

CO-OPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES 

The Council wish to record their cordial thanks for the courteous and willing co-operation of Government Departments and Local Authorities. Two examples of such co-operation may be given. In January 1936, the Postmaster-General invited the co-operation of the A.P.R.S. in certain matters which might arise in connection with the substantial increase in the number of telephone kiosks in rural areas which was to be made in the course of the year. Where objection might be raised against the standard design and colour in respect of all practicable sites in the locality, or might be raised after the kiosks had been installed, the Postmaster-General would be grateful if the Association would advise him as to the degree of justification for exceptional treatment in individual cases. 

In June the Council wrote to the Secretary of State for Air suggesting that plans for Government Aerodromes in Scotland should, in future, be submitted to the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland before construction was begun. The Minister replied proposing that his Department should notify the Association when a suitable stage in the preparation of lay-out plans for specific buildings had been reached, and that the Association should send representatives to the Air Ministry to discuss these plans with the Department. The Air Ministry shortly afterwards invited the Association to send representatives to inspect the proposed lay-out and particulars of construction for the extension of the accommodation at a Royal Air Force hutted camp. The Association’s representatives were met with every courtesy by the officials of the Air Ministry, and certain suggestions which they made for the improvement of details of the plans were accepted. 

BRANCHES 

The Council fully realise that the effective work of the Association is largely dependent upon the existence and activity of Branches. The six Branches which have already been formed have done very valuable work, and the Council record their grateful thanks to their officers and members. A special Formation of Branches Committee was appointed by the Council in April 1936, and this Committee is taking steps for the formation of Branches in the four western Counties of Ayr, Dunbarton, Lanark and Renfrew, and also in Inverness-shire. The Council would earnestly appeal to members in these Counties to aid in the establishment of active Branches. 

The following is a list of the Branches already formed:-

FINANCES 

(Statement overleaf) 

Subscriptions from all sources, including the due proportion of Life Members’ payments amount to £396, which is an increase on the total of £314 received in 1935. The latter, as pointed out last year, did not include the whole of the subscriptions from members of Branches, so the increase appears larger than it really is. There are seven new Life Members, and the Life Membership Fund now stands at £960. The grant from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trustees, £335, is reduced from last year’s grant of £400, and will continue for only two more years, so that, though the membership subscriptions are increasing, there will be required a large number of new members if the income in the future is to be adequate. There is a balance of income over expenditure of £174, which reduces the sum borrowed from the Life Membership fund to £332. This debt was incurred in the early days of the Association when the membership was small, and activities of an advertising character were carried out, and it will be satisfactory if the Association succeeds in paying it off by the time that the Carnegie Trustees’ grant ceases, and the Association is required to pay its own way. The deficit reached its maximum of £730 at the end of 1933, so the improvement since that date has been substantial. 

The formation of new Branches in the north and west which is in progress should bring a good influx of new members, and an effort on the part of present members to make the good work of the Association more widely known and appreciated will put the finances on a sound basis, besides increasing the influence of the Association. 

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 

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