THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF RURAL SCOTLAND.
MINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING held at 15 Rutland Square, Edinburgh, on Wednesday, 1st March, 1939, at 4 p.m.
PRESENT:
The Master of Polwarth – Chairman, Mr. W. F. Arbuckle,
Mr. H. Mortimer Batten,
Mr. E. S. Boll,
Commander H. C. Courtney Clarke,
Mr. J. W. Deighton,
Mr. C. H. Dodds,
Mr. W. J. Gibson www.Grand.
Mr. W. H. Johnson,
Mr. Ian Lindsay,
Mr. T. Mackintosh,
Mr. A. MacPhee,
Mr. A. G. Miller,
Rev. A. E. Robertson,
Mr. J. M. Rusk,
Captain W. P. M. Russell,
Mr. A. R. Sturrock,
Sir John Sutherland,
Mr. P. Thomsen,
Mr. C. H. Thomson,
Mr. W. Walker,
Mr. F. C. Mears, Hon. Secretary,
Mr. L. G. Thomson, Hon. Secretary,
and the Organising Secretary, Mr. Edward McGegan.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE WERE READ.
THE MINUTES OF LAST MEETING having been circulated were taken as read and approved.
The Chairman referred to the illness of Sir Iain Colquhoun and of the Marquess of Ailsa. It was decided that letters expressing the sympathy and the good wishes of the Council be sent.
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER, 1938.
Professor Baily submitted the Auditors Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31st December, 1938. In view of the cessation of the grant from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust at the end of the year it was very necessary that every effort should be made to increase the membership of the Association and to take any other steps calculated to put the Association on a firmer financial basis.
Suggestions from any members of the Council would be very welcome.
Commander Mr. Thomson said that he had been in correspondence with the Hon Secretary of the Border Branch and that he was taking steps which he hoped would enrol more members in Peeblesshire. Courtney Clarke and Mr. Mortimer Batten emphasised the need for more publicity. Reports of the proceedings at Council meetings and other matters connected with the Association (for example the pollution of burns and rivers) should be sent widely to the Press.
M. Thomson stated that he wished again to bring to the notice of the Council the possibility of enrolling a larger number of members by reducing the membership subscription. He thought that the different rates of subscription created a prejudice against the lower rates and he advocated that, apart from Life Members, there should be one membership subscription and that the amount should be 2/6. The collecting of the subscriptions could be made locally by the Branches. He knew of an Association which had 4 or 5 thousand members at a subscription rate of 2/6. Mr. Arbuckle suggested a membership subscription of 5/-. Mr. Mackintosh referred to the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water Colours which had recently instituted a body of friends of the Society at a subscription rate of 5/-. 600 friends had already been enrolled.
Mr. Bell deprecated making any alteration in the existing subscription rates. Professor Baily pointed out that if the subscription rate were reduced to 2/6 it would be necessary to get at least four times as many members as the Association had at present, and that the expense involved would not make the change worthwhile. He and the Organising Secretary had been considering the advisability of arranging for meetings of Branches which they could attend with a view to discussing the work and the development of the Association. The Chairman expressed the view that the matter should be remitted to the Finance Committee for consideration. This was agreed.
REGULATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS.
The Organising Secretary stated that he had been informed that the Home Office Committee on the Regulation of Advertisements had met on 9th February and that it was anticipated that a further report would shortly be circulated by the Committee.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS.
Professor Baily stated that the members of the Hydro-Electric Committee had been studying the Report of the Committee on the Highlands and Islands. The various views of the members of the Committee had now been embodied in a memorandum, which would be circulated to the Committee for their consideration. He was of opinion that the memorandum, when agreed, should be sent without delay to the Secretary of State for Scotland, and he suggested that this should be done before the next monthly meeting of the Council, which would not be held until Wednesday, 5th April.
It was decided that the memorandum should be submitted to the Council before it was dispatched to the Secretary of State for Scotland; that a meeting of the Hydro-Electric Committee be held on Tuesday, 7th March, at 3.45 p.m., to draw up a final draft; and that a special meeting of the Council be held on Tuesday, 14th March, at 4 p.m., to consider the final draft of the Committee.
TAXATION OF COUNTRY MANSIONS.
The Organising Secretary read letters which had been received from Lady Aberdeen on the subject of Guisachen House, Inverness- shire. The letters stated that Guisachen House had recently been sold and that there was every likelihood that it would either be demolished or have the roof removed, and Lady Aberdeen urged that in existing circumstances, and especially in view of the suitability of the House as a Training Centre for Fitness Leaders or as a centre for a camp for children or refugees every possible effort should be made to prevent the House from being put out of use. Sir John Sutherland suggested that the A.R.P. Authorities should be communicated with, especially as the House might be of great use for evacuation purposes.
The Chairman suggested that the attention of the A.R.P. and the National Fitness Council should be drawn to the matter. It would be much better to use big houses for evacuation purposes than to build ugly huts. The Chairman’s suggestion was agreed to.
FEDERATION OF OUT-OF-DOORS ORGANISATIONS.
Professor Baily reported that he and the Organising Secretary had attended on 25th February a meeting of representatives of potential Member Bodies of the Scottish Federation of out-of-Doors Organisations. The meeting had been called to form the Federation, to adopt the draft Constitution and the Countryside Pledge, and to elect Office Bearers. There was a good attendance and the Federation had been duly formed. He (Professor Baily) had been elected Honorary Treasurer and Mr. McGegan a Trustee. He was confident that the Federation would do admirable work in Scotland and he urged that the A.P.R.S. should become a Constituent Member. The minimum Annual Subscription was £1 for each Organisation. It was agreed that the A.P.R.S. should become a Constituent Member of the Federation.
NATIONAL PARKS.
The Organising Secretary stated that it was announced in the Monthly Report of the C.P.R.E. for January that the C.P.R.E.’s National Parks film, which was entitled “England”, was now completed, and that it would be released early in the year. He had written to the C.P.R.E. stating that it was assumed that the proposed trailer on Scotland had not been included, and reminding the C.P.R.E. that the A.P.R.S. had stipulated that they be consulted about the photographs or shots to be chosen and also about the words for the trailer if it was decided to include it. The C.P.R.E. had replied that nothing had yet been decided with regard to the exact distribution of the film. The A.P.R.S. would, of course, have to agree the photographs and the wording of the Scottish trailer if it were made, and the C.P.R.E. would prefer that in this case the photographs and the wording should be prepared by the A.P.R.S. The C.P.R.E. had written again on 27th February stating that at a film luncheon, attended by the owners of several film circuits, held on 24th February, no emphasis had been made on any distribution of the film in Scotland. The C.P.R.E. therefore felt that they would be acting according to the wishes of the A.P.R.S. if they did not press for distribution of the film in Scotland.
The Organising Secretary also reported that the Standing Committee on National Parks of the C.P.R.E. and the C.P.R.W. had written on 7th February stating that the Standing Committee had been considering the question of asking permission to have their National Parks Exhibition shown at the meeting of the British Association to be held in August at Dundee, but that before taking any definite steps to this end they were anxious to secure the co- operation of the A.P.R.S. and to avoid “trespassing “without the consent of that body. The letter stated that the Exhibition contained several photographs of scenery in Scotland, and that those would be given due prominence at any Exhibition in Scotland, in the same way as Welsh photographs were in the forefront when the Exhibition was in Wales. He had consulted the officers of the Association and the Chairman of the National Parks Committee on the matter and had replied stating that the A.P.K.S. would willingly co-operate with the Standing Committee in the holding of an Exhibition at Dundee on condition that the section of the Exhibition relating to Scotland was approved by the A.P.R.S. The officers of the Association were, however, strongly of opinion that photographs of Scotland which might be shown at the proposed Exhibition in Dundee should be entirely restricted to photographs of National Park areas already established, namely, Dalness, Glencoe, and Ardgartan, and, possibly, of Glasgow Corporation’s Park at Loch Goil.
The A.P.R.s. could obtain good photographs of those Park areas; and if the British Association gave their consent to the Exhibition being held in Dundee, they would take steps to procure them as soon as possible after hearing from the Standing Committee. The letter added that as conditions in regard to National Parks differed considerably in Scotland from conditions in England the Association would request that no Exhibition organised by the Standing Committee on National Parks should contain photographs of Scottish scenes unless these had been approved by the National Parks Committee of the A.P.R.S. On 22nd. February the Standing Committee replied, agreeing that the condition which the A.P.R.S. had made that the section of the Exhibition relating to Scotland should be approved or provided by the A.P.R.S. was a reasonable one. The Standing Committee had photographs of the following Scottish scenes in their Exhibition:- Galloway Highlands, The Cobbler – Ardgartan, Schiehallion, Cairngorms, Glen Guisachan, Suilven, Upper Loch Torridon, Two of Cuillins, Glencoe.
If the A.P.R.S. objected to any of these they would be retained by the Standing Committee, and the A.P.R.S. would no doubt provide their own photographs. These photographs were included in the Standing Committee’s Exhibition, not that the Committee wished in any way to say that any part of Scotland should or should not be a National Park, but because those who saw the Exhibition might wonder why Scotland should be excluded. The photographs in the Standing Committee’s Exhibition covered all parts of England and Wales which might possibly be suitable for National Parks. The Standing Committee took the view that National Parks, as envisaged in the National Park Committees Report of 1931 and also by themselves, did not as yet exist; and that while National Forest Parks in the Forestry Commission’s properties were no doubt highly desirable in themselves, they were not and should not be regarded as substitutes for National Parks. Nothing in the literature or in the Exhibition of the Standing Committee advocated the choice of one area rather than another. The photographs were simply of the wilder type of scenery, and were intended to bring the National Parks idea generally before the public.
Mr. Robertson said that if photographs of possible National Park areas were shown by the A.P.R.S. at the proposed Exhibition a good deal of opposition would probably be aroused. The A.P.R.S. should confine any photographs they might show to Parks established by the Forestry Commission and the National Trust. Professor Baily supported this opinion, and deprecated the suggestion that the National Parks established by the bodies mentioned were not National Parks.
Mr. Mackintosh suggested that if the photographs of Scotland which the Standing Committee proposed to show at Dundee were not shown under the name of the A. P.R.S. no trouble would arise. Mr. Thomsen expressed the view that the Council were tending to exaggerate the difficulties of the problem. He felt that their view was too purely nationalistic. The Chairman expressed the opinion that the A.P.R.S. should attach itself at present very cautiously to propaganda for National Parks.
Mr. Batton agreed with this view, and added that he felt that the A.P.R.S. should rather keep a watch on hopeful developments than try to arrange for the future.
The Chairman expressed the view that the A.P.R.S. should not oppose the holding of the Exhibition at Dundee, but should leave the Exhibition entirely to the responsibility of the Standing Committee.
It was decided that the subject should be considered by the National Parks Committee at a meeting of that Committee to be held on Wednesday, 8th March, at 3.45 p.m.
PROPOSAL FROM GLASGOW TREE LOVERS SOCIETY REGARDING A FILM ON AMENITY.
The Chairman reported that a letter had been received from the Glasgow Tree Lovers Society stating that the Society had written to various other Societies on the subject of the possibility of producing a film covering the general question of amenity, including the preservation of the countryside, preservation of trees in town and country, disfigurement by advertisements, unsightly buildings and litter suitable for showing in schools and also for general use in cinemas. The Glasgow Tree Lovers Society proposed to submit an application to the Carnegie Trust for a grant to cover the production of such a film, which, it was estimated, would cost about £800, and they asked if the A.P.R.S. would support the project. On the motion of the Chairman it was agreed that the A.P.R.S. take no action in the matter.
GLADSTONE’S LAND.
The Chairman referred to the completion of Gladstone’s Land in the Lawnmarket and conveyed to Mr. F.C. Mears the congratulations of the Council on the excellent way in which he had carried out the work.
Francis G. Baily
5 April 1939