'Dad invented National Parks to rebuild Britain'

John Dower's son Robin, far left, attended a ceremony to unveil a plaque in his memory

In 1949, a piece of legislation was passed which was intended to heal a "traumatised" British population recovering from World War Two.

The civil servant who wrote the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was John Dower. His parliamentary papers eventually enabled ordinary people to visit some of the country's most beautiful landscapes.

On Monday a blue plaque dedicated to Mr Dower was unveiled at Malham youth hostel, close to the village of Kirkby Malham where the legislation was conceived.

David Butterworth, chief executive officer of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said Mr Dower "knew there was a popular desire for National Parks in a post-war nation."

Robin Dower as a boy with his mother Pauline and uncle Arthur Dower at a ceremony to dedicate Malham youth hostel to his late father

Mr Dower, from Ilkley, was living in Malhamdale when he wrote his 1945 report, which set out the purposes of National Parks and identified the areas in England and Wales that could be considered for National Park status.

He died from the effects of tuberculosis at the age of 47, just before the passing of the Act that made access to the countryside more democratic. Mr Dower's widow, Pauline, continued his work after his death.

She was appointed as a member of the National Parks Commission in 1949 and later served as its deputy chair.

Mr Butterworth said: "The story of the Dower family deserves this recognition, in this 75th anniversary year of the National Parks Act, and 70th anniversary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.”

Among the guests at the Yorkshire Society ceremony to unveil the plaque were Mr Dower's youngest son, Robin, and grandchildren.

He posed for a photograph beside the plaque in the same spot where he was pictured with his family in 1948. The youth hostel was designed by his father, a qualified architect.

John Dower was a Royal Engineers officer at the beginning of the war, but was invalided out after contracting tuberculosis. He moved to Kirkby Malham in 1939, joined the civil service and was appointed by Sir John Reith, minister of town and country planning, to draft the report.

Mr Dower said: “As my father died when I was eight, I cannot really remember much about his work on the National Parks Report, except through the lens of my mother's work to fulfil his vision."

Jayne Butler, executive director at National Parks England, added: “Seventy-five years ago Britain’s National Parks were intended to play a huge role in ensuring access to nature and improved health and wellbeing. They are still serving this purpose today."

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