Welsh Journals

great size, and it would seem natural that they should build their homes in such a way that they would not entirely lose touch with the land which they love, but that their houses should be surrounded by gardens, and that many of them should combine with their urban occupations the cultivation of plots of ground, or the keeping of a few animals. Moreover, Wales is a land of frequent storms and intermittent wet weather, and its houses, to be wholesome, need to take every advantage of the bright gleams of sunshine dividing the storms. For this reason the dwellings should be clustered on the southern slopes of the hills, and not on the northern slopes, where during long months of the winter little or no sunshine falls. When houses are built on the slopes of steep hills, there is a marked difference between the light and outlook from the two sides of the houses. One looks up against the hill; usually from the lower rooms little can be seen but the bank formed by the excavation necessary to secure a level space for the building on the other side the windows stand usually well above ground, and have at least the oppor- tunity of a wide, open outlook across the valley to the hills beyond. It is only necessary to secure a reasonable space between the different terraces of houses, as they may rise tier upon tier, to secure that each terrace shall look over the tops of the roof of the one below, and have an uninter- rupted view of the hills beyond. Usually, the main lines of communication run along the valleys where the gradients are easy and the routes sheltered. These main highways, used for so many genera- tions simply to give access for the country population, and even in the valley often traversing sloping land, were made no wider than was necessary for their purpose. Unfortunately, in the sporadic urbanising of areas of the country which has followed the development of mines and quarries, and the location of industrial enterprises near the coal on which they so largely depend, individual owners of property on each side of these old roads have been thought- lessly and needlessly allowed to build rows of houses up to the road line. There has been not the slightest necessity for this- hardly the slightest pressure beyond the cost, sometimes of a bit of extra fencing, or an additional few yards of sewer or water pipe. Thousands of acres of land of low value lie behind these rows of houses they might just as well have been set back. Yet, now, all the urban communities are faced with congestion of traffic in their main streets, and the expenditure of large sums of money, to secure small strips for widen- ing, which a little foresight could have preserved. This building up to the road should at least be stopped forthwith, and if for no other reason, it would be well worth while to put in force town-planning schemes throughout all the districts, where even sporadic building is likely to take place. On all these valley roads there should be fixed a building line, so far from the centre of the road, that no question of pulling down buildings for widening can ever arise in the future, whatever developments may take place. In addition to these valley roads, there exist, to some extent, linking-up lanes, crossing the hills where the summit dips, and the most favourable gradients can be obtained. In future town-planning it is most important that these linking-up lanes should be increased in number, and that routes for them should be laid down, so that as development takes place, the necessary intercommuni- cation between the valleys can be secured. Sometimes, it may be necessary to zigzag these roads up the hill, but very often sufficient foresight will find enough