Places of random, elemental chaos, monuments of present or departed natural forces, places of awe and sublimity humble us, yet raise our spirits.

A place in the landscape is a place in the mind. John Ruskin called this the Pathetic Fallacy (i.e. empathetic poetry) in which humanity recognises its own sentiments through apprehension of such landscapes.  When man’s meagre intrusion presents itself with buildings and walls of local material it contributes to the harmony of respect, an integral aesthetic easily recognized.

In an age when the majority now work in synthetic conditions and urban surroundings, pressured by demands beyond the satisfaction of individual effort the National Parks concept is made ever more wise.  Modern science can quantify the value of this random experience to health, both physical and mental: but when such freedom is measured, controlled and charged it is necessarily negated.  It becomes tarnished by the stress it would liberate us from.  Of freedom, as with a superlative work of art, the only way to own its liberating wealth and consummate the love of it is to share it freely.  It is the hospitality which when fostered empowers others to feel confident and valued and in this enriched experience they recognise and reward their host more fully. Contented people spend more. Exploited people have mistrust; they sense a commercial sameness and a lack of cultural identity and warmth.

In the Northern Snowdonia Study, Chapter 4: Para 4.27: Those who espoused restriction on personal freedom as a reason for objecting to the park and ride proposals then put forward were dismissed as a small minority and placed in the class Rejectors and discounted out of hand

Freedom is the sentiment most frequently mention by the responders; its denial the most deeply felt objection. 

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