Still seething at foolish changes

Those affected by the changes to county council boundaries are still seething 28 years later. The areas affected were Upper Teesdale, Sedbergh, Bowland, West Craven and Saddleworth, all of which were formerly administered from Yorkshire.

What was the purpose of the reorganisation?

To rationalise the geography of local government and to produce economic benefits from gains in efficiency.

Did the reorganisation achieve its purpose?

It seems that this was not realised since there were no visible reductions in council tax or improvement in services.

Who decided what changes were necessary?

The Government acted on the recommendation of the Local Government Commission, who were supposed to take into account local loyalties. But they did not allow a vote on the issue which seemed the democratic thing to do. Unofficial opinion polls generally revealed at least 75 per cent against the changes so it is clear the views of residents were over-ridden. However, the Government reassured them they would remain Yorkshire in all respects other than local government.

What are the realities of the local government changes?

Despite the Government promise that the areas would keep their Yorkshire identity, local authorities removed county border signs and erected new ones. Ordnance Survey maps were altered accordingly and other mapmakers followed suit. The national media placed the areas in Lancashire instead of Yorkshire - in all outward respects the people had been transferred lock, stock and barrel! Naturally, they felt betrayed.

What can be done to restore our Yorkshire identity?

There is much that can be done quickly and cheaply, without the need for legislation or altering the existing system of local government. It would require the acknowledgement by local authorities and government agencies that the traditional county boundaries exist and should be shown to exist. That means:

1 Permanent road signs at the traditional county boundaries.

2 Replace existing road signs at administrative boundaries with markers for use of council staff.

3 All maps issued by Ordnance Survey to show traditional county boundaries in place of administrative boundaries.

4 Yorkshire region to include the whole of the traditional county.

5 Addresses on databases to comply with traditional counties.

In 1996 Humberside and Cleveland were abolished and the East Riding restored as a local authority. The proposed changes are simply a continuation of that process.

Geoff Hoyle,

Burnside Crescent, Skipton.

Home memories

SIR - My sister-in-law recently sent me a copy of the Herald with the photograph of Embsay school in 1955. I was delighted to see the photograph - for the first time.

I departed Skipton for London in 1963 and since that period have travelled extensively. In 1968 I flew to Australia as a 10 quid migrant and have lived in Sydney ever since.

In 1969 I joined the Australian airline Qantas as an air hostess and remained with them for some three years. My parents, brothers and sisters remained in Yorkshire and I was able to visit them on many occasions.

Mum and dad lived on a small farm called Kirk Sink just off Gargrave, which was run by Jack and Nancy.

In 1971 I married an Australian and we had three children, one of whom, my daughter Kathryn, was born in Keighley Hospital and two of my children were christened at St Andrew's Church in Gargrave.

Dad's favourite pub was the Mason's Arms and I was delighted to pick up an Australian newspaper with an article on travel in Yorkshire and there was this lovely article on the pub which brought back many happy memories.

As they always say, "you can take the girl out of Yorkshire, but never Yorkshire out of the girl".

There has been a lot of water under the bridge and we have all gone our own ways since the photo but if anyone in our class would like to make contact, a message can be left for me c/o Malcolm and Susan Turnbull on 01535 637381 or my e-mail address: lindamclean@ hotmail.com

Linda McLean (nee Turnbull),

91 Kuring-gai Avenue,

Turramurra, NSW, Australia.

True gentleman

SIR - I should be grateful if you would through your paper thank the gentleman who helped me on Monday morning March 11, when I fell in the street just outside Sunwin House in Swadford Street.

I was hurt and he very kindly stayed with me whilst I got to my feet and then came with me to the Fisher Medical Centre. I could not have asked for anyone to treat me so kindly.

Name and address supplied.

A familiar tale

SIR - With all the publicity and criticism of the management of our health service we may feel distressed to think that we are behind the standards set by our European counterparts.

When I received the annual review of my pension provider - CGNU, I was amazed to see a short paragraph that puts the matter in a new light.

The snippet reads as follows:

"Delta Lloyd Health is a leading and innovative insurer in the Dutch healthcare market. As part of its pioneering approach Delta Lloyd offered patients access to healthcare in Spain and Germany, in co-operation with the Red Cross, to help relieve pressure on Dutch waiting lists in 2001."

At least our faithful medical service, battling against the great odds of staff shortages and inadequacies in funding, can be assured that they are not alone in their struggles.

The Dutch, at least, are travelling companions. One is inclined to ask how many more are in the same boat?

Perhaps there might be other matters which are not known about - train services and such.

Frank Winn,

Long Meadow, Skipton.

Rail anniversary

SIR - Knowing that there is some media interest in recalling events at the time of the Queen's Coronation, I wonder if you would be prepared to print the account below, which relates to the 50th anniversary, on April 21, of the derailment of the Thames Clyde Passenger Rail ExpressTrain on Blea Moor.

Unbeknown to the drivers of the two engines pulling that train southwards, a broken component in the brake assembly had been trailing along the track and that damaged part had snagged on the points at Blea Moor sidings. That caused the leading engine to separate from its coal tender. That tender, the second engine and its tender, together with the first four coaches, all toppled over onto the rail track.

I was a 15-year-old boy at that time, travelling in the first coach. I think I and the other passengers on the train were very lucky that the accident occurred where it did given the kind of track terrain and viaducts the train had travelled across, and indeed was about to enter Blea Moor Tunnel and across the Ribblehead Viaduct.

Nevertheless, the location of the derailment caused immense difficulties in terms of rescuing the passengers in the overturned coaches (34 people were injured), the removal of the damaged rail stock and continuation of the journey south by the passengers.

It seemed to be very much a "do it yourself" rescue involving the train staff, local rail workers who lived nearby, passengers and a doctor who was walking in nearby Dentdale.

One of the passengers was the then chairman of the crane manufacturing firm Cowans-Sheldon Cranes and he offered advice to the operatives of those cranes, which arrived from rail depots at Carlisle and Leeds. That was a scenario very different from the regrettable rail accidents of recent years where wreckage is surrounded by endless emergency rescue services.

In five hours the track was sufficiently cleared to enable passengers who had been taken back to Dent station to proceed on another train and slowly pass the crash site.

The railway workers were clearly focused upon getting the passengers through to their ultimate destinations.

Events of that afternoon perhaps not only reflected post-war attitudes people had of coping with adversity and pulling together, but also it was at a time when the public were excited and keen to achieve success at the dawn of a new "Elizabethan Era".

JB Harvey,

Whitton Road,

Stockton-on-Tees.

Chlorine intolerant

SIR - I was delighted to hear of the Trust's £3 million investment for Airedale Hospital but are you aware that for over 15 years nothing has been done for chemically sensitive patients? They plead poverty.

They started to remodel the toilets last March when I was admitted onto the orthopaedic ward and went in well and came out ill.

As a nurse with an NHS pension due, being intolerant of chlorine, which as a free radical can bond with many other chemicals, which in turn can make me intolerant of many more including building and paint chemicals, I was very ill due to the paint and floor cleaning fluids used.

Airedale did not provide any facilities for care in over 15 years.

Dr Mayberley had nowhere to care for patients who are chemically sensitive. Patients were stressed due to the work, they should have been moved.

I thought the first duty of hospitals should be to make people well. Could not Airedale at least make provision for all patients' care?

I was district nurse, midwife, health visitor at Hawes and would like to give greetings to all my patients especially those suffering the after effects of foot and mouth.

Mary Metcalfe,

Moor View, Threshfield.

No conductor

SIR - One Thursday recently I arrived at Keighley Station to catch the 9.16 to Bradford.

An announcement informed us that though this train was running late and would arrive after the 9.30 deadline for commencement of off-peak tickets, they would not be valid on this train.

Perhaps Arriva should explain why the paying passenger should be penalised when the delay was not caused by us at Keighley.

As it happened, it was irrelevant which ticket you had purchased, because the conductor never bothered to come and check them all the way from Keighley to Bradford.

I see that more strikes are planned by the conductors for a pay rise. Should this prove successful, I suppose this particular conductor will pocket the extra wages without any extra workload, effort or conscience.

P Sykes,

Berry Brow, Keighley.

Victory for vandals

SIR - Life's great for some ain't it? With the blessings and good wishes of Craven Council's Resource Committee, tonight, Matthew, I intend to:

a Go out and get blind drunk;

b Shout abuse, use foul language and terrorise anyone who looks weaker than me;

c Start a fight in a pub (any pub will do)

d Smash a few windows;

e Mug a couple of tourists;

And, finally, (ah, what a kick I get thinking about it)

f Strut down to the canal basin and dance on the grave of the jubilee bandstand. Like Craven Council's resource committee I'm sick of talented kids, theatre groups, brass bands and clog dancers.

Yours, former Jubilee Committee member, now Skipton Vandal and Lager Lout (membership no 326).

Malcolm Hanson,

Swadford Street, Skipton.

Let there be light

SIR - It was with dismay that I read the comments regarding Ings Drive in Bradley.

I had the same view but in reverse of the picture of the trees a few feet from my bungalow which left my lounge and kitchen very dark well before the usual time by one hour.

I was here when two silver birch, two willows and two holly trees were planted. One silver birch was vandalised the same week, otherwise the outlook would have been more severe for me.

I am a keen supporter of the Dales Millennium Trust's conservation projects, with trees planted in Aysgarth Wood, plus Crosswood in Kettlewell in memory of friends from Bromley, Huddersfield and Bradley so I don't consider myself a deplorable vandalising type of person.

The trees in Bradley Mr Judge referred to have not been "vandalised". Trees in the right place, with appropriate height and girth are wholly desirable. These trees were not.

The parish council agreed to refer the matter to higher authority, whereupon a qualified tree surgeon visited the site and declared the trees unsuitable. Moreover, he noted that the bases of the trees were rotten and would have had to be removed anyway, not merely pruned.

The trees were unsafe and if felled by strong wind might have caused personal injury.

On the upside, the trees are to be replaced at the appropriate time by shorter, slow growing trees, which should put all parties' minds to rest.

Blanche Race,

Green Close, Bradley.

Managing trees

SIR - Further to an article published in last week's Craven Herald entitled "Resident hits out over destructive tree felling work" , I would like to address some of the concerns raised by Pamela Cotton.

It is true that the Countryside Management Division of Craven College has responsibility for maintenance of the trees on the Aireville campus and that recent felling that has taken place to ensure the safety of students and others who use the woodland.

Environmental conservation is at the heart of the Countryside Management Division's activities and the decision to fell any tree is not taken lightly. A preferable option, to allow trees to decay naturally, was not possible on this site.

The College sees the woodland on the Aireville campus as an important environmental resource both for students of conservation and countryside management and others such as the 'Watch' group who use the site. Many of the mature trees on the site are in poor condition and the college is committed to a programme of re-planting with over a hundred new native trees planted in the last two years.

As part of the initiative to sympathetically develop the woodland, students from Aireville School have recently been involved in an initiative to introduce bird nesting boxes to the site and there are plans to create a hide and a feeding station.

The Countryside Management Division and Craven College as a whole recognise the enormous value of trees. I can assure Pamela Cotton that neither is nonchalant about tree felling. Indeed, much of the work of the Countryside Management Division is to raise students' awareness of trees as an environmental resource and to increase the level of understanding of trees as a landscape amenity.

Dr Simon Midgley,

Divisional Manager,

Countryside Management,

Craven College.