SIR: How sad that no more generations of our children will be splashing in the shallows of the Itchen at Cow Down (Chronicle, October 22). My children have picnicked there more times than I can count and it has been a delight to see other families also enjoying the precious few yards of river bank that’s open to the public. I hoped my grandchildren would follow this decades old tradition but it seems local landowners have other plans.

I hope they find the view of the river bank enhanced by the metal fencing they have erected.

Regrettably in the decades I have lived in the valley more and more open spaces have been wired off to stop local children playing there. The Covid emergency has increased social division in Hampshire as elsewhere. What a shame that the landowners of the Itchen Valley have chosen to exacerbate this by depriving families who do not own large estates access to this celebrated beauty spot.

Peter Morgan,

Easton