Rent deal curtails North Hills quarrying (From Malvern Gazette)

Rent deal curtails North Hills quarrying

8:50am Friday 10th February 2012 in Malvern Memories

A BATTLE in the fight to stop quarrying on the Malvern Hills was won 100 years ago, reported the Gazette.

"None, I should imagine, will be disposed to cavil at the decision of the council to assist the Hills Conservators in paying the rent on certain portions of the hills which they have obtained on a fourteen years' lease from the Duke Gandolfi.

"The hills are Malvern's greatest possessions, and anything which tends to destroy their beauty must be guarded against. It is a great pity that quarrying should have been carried out to such an extent as it has already been, and by securing this land the Conservators have put a stop to it on this portion of the hills at any rate for some years to come "t would be a good thing if quarrying could be stopped altogether, but that cannot be done, and the Council and the Hills Conservators have done the next best thing in limiting it to some extent.

"When we remember that the whole of the North Hill is involved in this matter, it becomes a serious question, and as some of the members of the Council remarked, the money contributed out of the ratepayers' pockets in connection with these leases is money well spent."

At the council meeting, Mr G A Jones explained that the Duke had let the entire North Hill to the Pyx Granite Company to prospect for stone. The council agreed to pay half the cost, or £15 a year for 14 years, to secure the land.