and (at 2020) continues as Newton Rigg College. Rawnsley was also instrumental in founding a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients on Blencathra, 900 ft (275m) above sea level, where the mountain air was believed to be beneficial. His concern for the health of the community prompted him to campaign against over-processed white bread, encourage fell running and above all strive to ensure that footpaths were kept open to allow walking. He lost his seat on the council in 1895, the vote probably tipped by objections to his firm stance on public houses and alcohol licensing. National Trust By 1890 Rawnsley had become convinced that the surest means of protecting land for public enjoyment was not lobbying or legislation but ownership. There had been cases in which people wished to give or bequeath property to the public, but there was no suitable national body that was legally capable of owning it. In 1884 Hunter had proposed "the formation of a corporate company" to hold properties "with a view to the protection of the public interest in the open spaces of the country". Hill was in favour of the idea but the Commons Preservation Society was against it, fearing that such a body would compete with it for public support; the proposal was allowed to lapse. In 1893 several important properties in the Lake District came up for sale, and Rawnsley went to London to discuss with Hunter and Hill how the sites might be acquired for the public. They agreed to revive the proposal of a national trust. An inaugural meeting was convened at Grosvenor House, London, in July 1894; Hunter and Rawnsley were elected chairman and secretary respectively. The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty formally came into being in January 1895. Until his death, Rawnsley worked as honorary secretary to the Trust. He was responsible for the campaign to raise the £6,500 needed to buy Brandlehow Woods and Fell, a 105 acre property, the National Trust's first purchase in the Lake District. He was at the forefront of successful efforts to buy other properties in Cumberland and Westmorland: the 750 acre Gowbarrow Fell at Ullswater (1906); a large tract at the southern end of Derwentwater 1908, including a wooded knoll given by the Rawnsleys to mark their 25th year in the district (1908); extensive holdings in Borrowdale including the Bowder Stone (1910); and the site of