Sylvia Sayer

This chapter follows the early life of Sylvia Sayer, noting that she was not born into such grandeur as Pauline Dower, but she was firmly placed within the English middle classes. It emphasizes that she inherited her political commitments from her grandfather, Robert Burnard, but her social standing and the ease with which she dealt with male officials surely reflected the record of distinguished naval service on her father's side. The chapter also elaborates on the subject of Sayer's letter to Sir Patrick Duff, chair of the National Parks Commission, which was the need to expedite the designation of Dartmoor National Park. The chapter then considers Sayer's preservationism and her belief that Dartmoor's natural characteristics gave it an essential purpose as grazing land or pasture, primarily pursued through the exercise of common rights, which had to be protected at all cost. The chapter concludes by reviewing how Sayer opposed virtually all forms of enclosure or disturbance to the existing surface of the moor. Sayer believed Dartmoor provided a single essential resource — rough grazing — and with it benefits to the public — health and happiness — and it should not be exploited in any other way.