Sprawling car parks in the Chilterns

As a child I spent a great deal of time on the Chiltern Hills. As a family we walked, had picnics, flew kites and enjoyed the splendid views . The chalk downland was a sea of wild flowers with many ground nesting birds. This week I took my husband to Dunstable Downs for the first time to show him the countryside of my childhood.  I do not know when the National Trust acquired Dunstable Downs but I was horrified by the changes they have made. First there were sprawling car parks surrounding a vast visitors centre serving fast food. Worst of all the surrounding grassland had been mown short with no wild flowers anywhere. Hard paths had been carved into the hillsides. Notices asked visitors not to cycle or  drive on the grass and to keep dogs on short fixed leads. All these were ignored while we were there.

Why is it that the National Trust thinks the countryside needs to become an  urbanised  playground in order to attract town and city dwellers? I know they cannot be trusted any longer to care for the country houses they have been given but I naively thought that the open countryside was safe in their hands. How wrong I was.

Christina Jones