Chester Chronicle letters

May 7 2004 Daily Post

I AM currently researching a book which takes a nostalgic look at village life between 1930-1970.

I would love to hear from anybody who has photographs, or memories of Cheshire villages which they might like to share.

The book covers all aspects of village life, such as rural industries; country crafts; transport; customs; fetes and fairs; village sports; the church; the pub; the village bobby; the school; village clubs and organisations or any anything else to do with village life.

Perhaps there was something unique about the village you lived in, did it have its own traditions? Or was there something that took place in your village that made it famous, or infamous? What type of jobs did people do? Did you belong to a successful village sports club? Did your village have a drama, WI, boy scout, girl guide group, etc?

Can you remember how the community celebrated great occasions such as VE Day and the Coronation?

The book will be published by a well-known international publisher, so your photographs or memories will be enjoyed by a wide audience. If you think you might be able to help, please write to me at the address below, or, e-mail: henrybuckton@tiscali.co.uk  

All photographs will be returned.

Many thanks.

HARRY BUCKTON PO Box 2770, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9XD.

A PERSISTENT and vociferous minority within the Labour Party is suggesting it might once again be a good idea to concentrate on banning hunting, despite the fact that less than 2% of the public agree.

The Government should reflect carefully on its priorities.

A hunting ban is an obsession with many Labour backbenchers - but outside the Commons it hardly registers as an issue.

To the vast majority of the population whose wish-list is for good hospitals, safer streets and better schools, more time spent on hunting will provoke an out-break of despair - and in the countryside the reaction would be much stronger.

Hundreds of thousands of people are prepared to actively campaign against such legislation and the politicians who support it. What sensible Government would invite that in the run up to a general election?

Banning hunting is not the easy option for Government - it could have huge political consequences.

Through their obsession with hunting, backbench MPs are making their Government look ridiculous.

For their own sake, and that of the country, they would be well advised to concentrate on issues about which the electorate actually cares.

SIMON HART Chief Executive Countryside Alliance 367 Kennington Road London SE11 4PT

FOR most of this year I couldn't under-stand why the cheapest one-way rail ticket to or from London Euston, cost me £10 exactly.

I had not seen any notices concerning increased fares.

As an old age pensioner, I had always tried to purchase the cheapest possible tickets for my off-peak journeys. In a summary of terms and conditions for Virgin Value tickets, valid from January 4, printed in very small writing, I now find irrespective of Railcard discounts, the minimum adult fare is £10.

Until this year, I had always received a 34% discount with my Senior Railcard. An adult 14 Day Virgin Value one-way fare from London to Chester or Liverpool costing the full price of £11, or £13.50 to North Wales, the Railcard cost was £7.25 or £8.90.

It seems from January 4, a minimum charge of £10 has been imposed, effectively increasing the £7.25 fare by over 28%, and the £8.90 fare by 12.4%. The 28% fare increase is more than ten times the 2.77% pension increase this year. How can Virgin Trains justify a fare increase of over 28%?

DAVID E SUTCLIFFE Isle of Anglesey

CHESHIRE County Council recently announced its plans to build a number of waste-handling facilities in Cheshire.

The term 'energy from waste' (EfW) has been used by several county authorities in the UK to conceal the fact some EfW plants are municipal solid-waste incinerators.

This may be due to the increased public knowledge about incineration and the highly toxic chemicals it emits, increased levels of ill-health, etc.

Some councils across the UK are deliberately avoiding the word 'incinerator' by calling them 'energy from waste', 'thermal treatment', 'biomass', 'RDF' and 'recycling plants'.

While politicians argue that some environmental problems require tradeoffs between environmental protection and saving money, sometimes it simply costs more to do the right thing. This is not the case with real solutions for municipal waste.

Handling waste through a Zero Waste Approach - which maximises waste prevention, segregation, recycling and composting - is safer, more sustainable, creates more jobs and costs less than capital-intensive incinerators, which convert valuable materials into toxic pollution and ash.

Thanks to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) there is hard data and case studies to prove this.

Recently GAIA released a report, Resources up in Flames: The Economic Pitfalls of Incineration vs a Zero Waste Approach in the Global South, that documents the economic advantages of a Zero Waste Approach over incineration in the specific context of less-industrialised countries.

Filled with data about economic development, job creation and other benefits of investing in recycling rather than burning materials, Resources up in Flames is critical reading for every municipal official.

No longer can incinerator vendors claim their wasteful and polluting technology is the only option; there is another way that protects both environmental health and the bottom line.

The Resources up in Flames report can be obtained from www.noburn.org or by contacting me at ralph.ryder@communities-against-toxics.org.uk

RALPH RYDER Co-ordinator, Communities Against Toxics, Ellesmere Port

I READ with interest the fulsome description of Chris Davies MEP in support of his nomination for the forthcoming Euro election by Chairman Dave Smithson for North West Liberal Democrats.

Is this the same Chris Davies I have read about as having a criminal conviction and who is a campaigner for the decriminalisation of cannabis?

If the answer is in the affirmative, I would like to know what is his reaction to the fact that over seven tonnes of cannabis has been seized in the North West these past few days. Will he congratulate the police and customs officers for preventing this evil trade to persist?

NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD

IT'S 2004 and the streets of Chester have finally been lost to the Police and law and order.

Drug takers and young yobbos do what they like, where they like. Cars arrive up one-way streets the wrong way, cyclists have taken over the pavements.

A couple of Sundays ago, a man in the Groves proceeded to take his trousers off, no underpants, and showed all he had! Two hours later on the City Walls, a woman in full view of everyone trying to perform a sexual act with her partner.

If the Chief Constable cannot put more officers on the streets, he should resign and let's have a tough man at the top, who will fight Government for more funds.

CHARLES BROOKS Chester

MY HUSBAND and I would like to thank the staff of MVC Entertainment LTD, the Grosvenor medical emergency gentleman, the ambulance staff and all those involved at the Countess of Chester Accident and Emergency department, and also the very kind lady customer who came to reassure and aid my husband on our visit to MVC Entertainment LTD, Grosvenor Precinct, on Friday, April 23. This was a frightening medical emergency to witness.

My husband was able to return home later that day, after receiving treatment at the Countess of Chester Hospital, and is recovering.

I would appreciate it if the lady customer would contact me, so my husband and I may express our appreciation personally.

Thank you again to all the very kind people who helped us.

B MARTIN TAYLOR 01352 710821

I HAD such a lovely time at the Point to Point races at Eaton last Sunday.

It was grand to see so many happy people having their picnics out in the sunshine and watching the beautiful well-cared-for horses galloping around the course. It was a really happy countryside occasion, but of course it will not happen again if hunting is banned. How very sad.

J SHERWIN Malpas

THANK you for support of local people in making our golf day go with a 'Swing'! We raised £680.

A great day was had by all and a fabulous evening.

LESLEY SHEILLS AND MARINA CROSS. Kidney Research, Reg. Charily no. 250895 Vicars Cross, Chester