ARRANGEMENTS AT TOYS HILL
Larksfield,
August 14th, 1898.
To her Mother.
... I am going over to-morrow to Toys Hill, to talk over many things with Miss Sewell. I want to get a general idea of what to aim at about the various pieces of land, which cottages to keep, which to replace, which part to open to the public. Some of the cottages are greatly overcrowded, and with that I must deal. I have also now definitely to settle about the well,[[127]] and order it. So far as I see, it will be best to throw open the little terrace adjoining the road which commands the farthest view, and which has some oak trees on it. Here, too, will be our well, and, I hope, a seat. The slope from it is so steep that we shall need a little cris-cross wooden fence as a slight protection. It will then be rather like the places one sees abroad—projecting terraces to see a view. Then, also, I think the whole steep bank might be well left open, and the earth that is excavated may be put at the roots of the trees. Two of the cottages I hope may be made both better and prettier. There is some flat ground below, where, perhaps, we may build two. At this moment cottages are so much needed, and the hill is still open; I think using this land might be best. On my own land I want, this autumn at least, to plant.
February 21st, 1899.
Mrs. Hill to her Cousin Miss Price.
Octavia’s visit to Alnwick was a remarkably pleasant one. She was much interested in the family, in the castle, in the scenery to which, and through which they drove—and in the object of her visit—the improvement of the sanitary state of the town. It was the first town which adopted the measures recommended by the General Board of Health when my father was on the Board; so we have memories there. He stayed in Alnwick in 1855 to superintend the sanitary improvements.
Rome,
March 10th, 1899.