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and may sometimes be ignored. Council <strong>road</strong>s are subject to an even wider range of attitudes, policies and practices, as will be seen. Because of their special interest and creative possibilities Motorway <strong>verges</strong>, slopes and embankments are the subject of a separate report. By the time that this report is generally available, the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 will have come into effect and in some instances very extensive changes in County Boundaries and County administrations will have taken place. Nevertheless, these mostly affect urban areas and except for the amalgama- tion of Herefordshire and Worcestershire; Huntingdonshire, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely; Leicestershire and Rutland; Cumberland, Westmorland and N. Lancashire; together with some more fundamental changes in Yorkshire and Lancashire and the north east, the effect on rural <strong>road</strong> administra- tion may not be very far reaching. Regardless of the changes in boundaries, it may be assumed that the same personalities will be involved, even if they are not responsible for exactly the same areas as before. Thus, although this report may not be strictly applicable to the post-1974 County boundary situation, the general matters reported should still be relevant and it is hoped useful to new administrations in defining their policies in regard to what might be described as rural <strong>road</strong> habitat management. FUNCTION OF ROADS IDES The function of <strong>road</strong>sides was described by one officer as giving visibility at bends and as a place to deposit apparatus (including that of statutory under- takers), and snow. This might also have been extended to mention safety, as a place to pull off a vehicle in case of emergency, as a place to deposit materials, as a place for drains or as a soakaway for drainage water, and as giving structural support to the <strong>road</strong> formation. In strictly engineering terms these might be the only functional attributes. However, <strong>road</strong> <strong>verges</strong> do have other functions which although incidental and accidental to their main use, are important in social terms. In landscaping, <strong>verges</strong> play an essential part in 'fitting* a <strong>road</strong> into its surroundings and in this sense are psychologically important to the <strong>road</strong> user; they also have amenity functions, which include the separation of pedestrians and horse riders from vehicular traffic and the provision of an area of countryside to which the public has unhindered access within limits imposed by traffic. Road <strong>verges</strong> are also becoming increasingly recognised for their importance in the conservation of the natural fauna and flora of the countryside. Many aspects of the functions of <strong>road</strong> <strong>verges</strong>, together with their management and other factors were discussed at a symposium in London in 1969, to which the reader is also referred (Way, 1969).
ACREAGES AND OTHER STATISTICS In a previous paper (Way, 1970 from data collected in 1967)~ a total of 429,186 acres of <strong>road</strong>side habitat comprising grass <strong>verges</strong>, unmanaged areas, ditches and boundary features was calculated for rural <strong>road</strong>s in England and Wales. It has always been of interest to cross check this figure. In 1972, 16 Highway Departments (28%) were able to give approximate acreages of grass <strong>verges</strong> mown by them and in one or two instances more detailed figures were available (Tables 1 and 2). Table 1. Total acreage and average acreage per mile of mown <strong>verges</strong> on County <strong>road</strong>s, figures from 1972 survey. County Midland Counties Bedfordshire Huntingdonshire Leicestershire Rutland Warwickshire Eastern Counties (Norfolk Lincoln - Lindsey Yorkshire - East Riding Southern Counties Sussex - East Sussex - West Southwestern Counties Cornwall Somerset Pembrokeshire Upland Counties Derbyshire Breconshire Glamorgan Acreage County Acres of mown of mown <strong>road</strong> verge per mile verge mileage of County <strong>road</strong> av 1.65 (excluding Norfolk) (*Estimated from mileage of different classes of <strong>road</strong> in Norfolk at standard verge widths of 12 ft for Trunk <strong>road</strong>s, 10 ft for Class I, 8 ft for other classified and 6 ft for unclassified. Assuming whole area mown.)
Page 1 and 2: ROAD VERGES ON RURAL ROADS Manageme
Page 3 and 4: Summary INDEX Chapter 1 Extent and
Page 5: SUMMARY This report is based on vis
Page 10 and 11: - 4 - Using the average figure of 1
Page 12 and 13: explain aberrant results for any of
Page 14 and 15: Table 3. Number of County Highway A
Page 16 and 17: - 10 - The purpose of these remarks
Page 18 and 19: Fire and snow control were other hi
Page 20 and 21: (Conium maculatum) by three countie
Page 22 and 23: degree of polarisation of ideas bet
Page 24 and 25: Table 4. Suggested prioritiea that
Page 26 and 27: quantity of product but not quality
Page 28 and 29: July 1971 Letter HE 138/4/02 to Div
Page 30 and 31: COUNTY TRUNX PRINCIPAL CLASS 11 CLA
Page 32 and 33: COUNTY TRUNK PlllNCIPlL CLASS I1 CL
Page 34: COUNTY TRUNK, CUSS I, CUSS 11, CUSS
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Page 39 and 40: machines are also more difficult th
Page 41 and 42: for application of herbicide in a p
Page 43 and 44: u9. Use of Ch-isol #prays (MH with
Page 45 and 46: Carmarthen - to liberate machines f
Page 47 and 48: Table 10. Cost per mile per season
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Page 51 and 52: The figures can be compared with th
Page 53 and 54: -. Costa per acre per occasion for
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Page 57 and 58: flush verges are p
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=. Individual couniy specifications
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In the building up of verge
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CHAPTER 6. HIGHWAY TREE PLANTING; B
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BOUNDARY REINSTATENENT Following th
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Whether the landowner or the Counci
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