Sir,—I shared on Tuesday the delight of the very large audience which assembled in the Town Hall to hear Mr. Alfred Watkins’s lecture on distance sighting as practised by the prehistoric Britons.
It was, as the Mayor remarked, an inspiration. Mr. Watkins’s name, his worship further said, would, as a photographer, inventor, scientist, and archæologist, be remembered for all time in this county. This acknowledgment must have been as refreshing as a cup of cold water to a thirsty man to the soul of Mr. Watkins, for he has lived for, laboured for, and loved Hereford and Herefordshire more than any other man of his generation.
In returning thanks for the appreciation expressed at the end of the lecture, Mr. Watkins said in effect that he hoped that new interest would be aroused in this county, its treasures, its beauty, and in the subject upon which he had ventured to speak.
He could not well have said that which I now venture to suggest. It is that the County Education Committee should
anticipate the posthumous recognition which will undoubtedly be one day paid to the genius of Mr. Alfred Watkins by
introducing during Mr. Watkins’s lifetime his “Ancient Trackways,” with its superb illustrations,
into the secondary schools of the county as a text-book and manual for nature and outdoor study.—Yours etc.,
D. W. A.
Hereford, April 6th, 1922.
Source info: Not stated; text suggests Hereford; looks like Hereford Times.