Annals of Sandhurst, 1900 e-bog

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. That the surroundings of an educational establishment such as Sandhurst should be picturesque may not perhaps be regarded as a necessity; still, the stranger to the neighbourhood, as well as the dweller in these parts, can hardly fail to be charmed with the beauty of the grounds surrounding the Royal Military College.<br><br>The building itself is best described as a massive though ugly structure. In all else a considerable amount of artistic taste has been displayed, and the men of a by-gone age, to whom we are indebted for the planning and laying out of the estate, seem to have been endowed with a rare faculty for skilfully combining their handiwork with the already existing beauties of nature. In the foreground are to be seen smooth lakes - a vast expanse of water - fringed with dark fir-trees and silvery birches, and dotted with evergreen-planted islets; beyond their margins the eye rests on solemn pine forests, which extend for miles, clothing the shallow valleys and low hills; while here and there sparkling streams flow down through woods of birch and alder. Black morasses, overrun with bog-myrtle and willow scrub, form in the hollows, or beech woods or oak plantations ring the changes.