London December (1)

Needless to say, there are many parks in outsides of cities. There are mainly 2 categories of parks in country sides: preserved areas with relatively natural condition for people to visit and experience the nature, and protected areas, often called national parks, which contain precious landscapes, animals or plants. As I remember, Seven Sisters in south England which is famous for its chalk cliff is a national park. However most of the land is a pastureland and the footpath is laied through a crowd of sheep. I have a good feeling on this halfhearted-relaxed way of protection.

当然ながら、都市の外にも公園はある。都市外の公園は大きく分けて二種類あり、自然に近い状態の自然を人に見せるための公園、もう一つは貴重な自然の景観や動植物を守るために設置されている国定公園などがあるようだ。白亜の絶壁で有名なセブン・シスターズは国定公園だったと思うのだが、普通に羊が放牧されており、彼らの群れを縫って遊歩道が走っている。なんとも力の抜けた保護の仕方だが、僕は結構好感を持っている。

(London, December, by Hiroshi Takeyama)