Letters to the Editor

I am not a relative, nor do I know of any relatives, but I do remember Tom and I just want to respond, in however minor a way, to Mr Lindley's plea of "Is there someone out there who remembers him?"

We were in the same form at Keighley Boys Grammar School during the 1930s and I remember him well as a friendly companion who was also quite bright at schoolwork. I have looked up The Report of the Boys Grammar School for the year ended July 31, 1936, and List of Prizes and Certificates to be presented by Professor Alfred Fowler on Wednesday, December 2, 1936, and find that he got his matriculation that year with credits in six subjects (rather better than I did myself).

I remember hearing of his death but I was never aware of the circumstances. Quite a number of schoolfriends were losing their lives at this time, particularly those in air crew.

So I would just be grateful if you would tell Mr Lindley that although I cannot help him in his search, his report via yourselves has caused me to think back to former times and to pause for a while in silent tribute to Tom and his colleagues who perished that day in 1944.

HOWARD STOWELL

Waterlooville, Hants

Sir - I feel I must point out one or two things following the recent missive from Keighley Town Council regarding protocol.

The decision to demean the press came from a soon to be disbanded committee called 'constitution and policy', which was made up from a select group of councillors who seemed to be under the impression that they in fact ran the council.

This dinosaur committee is being erased this month, so not to worry.

At the last council meeting Councillor Wright was right to challenge this rather pathetic motion to silence other councillors and the press from voicing an opinion.

I am sure that one or two will now be after my blood for saying this, but it doesn't matter as I am relocating to Surrey in the next few weeks. I have a new job and will be standing down from the council anyway.

Most of the councillors are genuinely after a better deal for Keighley and to those, I wish them all the best as they have a struggle ahead trying to get Bradford out.

As I have said before, the reporting by the Keighley News is fair and honest. Quite why some people feel the need to start dictating to others, I don't know -- they should look at reality.

Cllr Mike Wilkinson

Keighley Town Council

SIR - Seems that the good burghers of Trumpton are getting a bit above themselves.

Not content with trying to take on the mantle of the old Borough Council, Keighley Town Council now wants to become something of a closed society.

Who do these people think they are, laying down the law as to what our elected councillors say: what makes them think that they can strut around acting like some kind of secret organisation?

What is it that they are afraid of us finding out? Does Keighley hide some kind of weapons of mass destruction or is there some other secret that cannot bear the light of day?

For goodness sake councillors, grow up. We live in a land of a free press. Get a life, as they say!

R A GARNER

Vernon Court, Keighley

SIR - Biggest and Best Forties Event Yet. For the tourist that is.

The organisers of the Haworth 40s weekend may have taken a step back in time but the locals were pushed to the back when it came to getting tickets for the Saturday night dance.

It wasn't even advertised at Oakworth and Cross Roads and when we tried to get tickets, it seemed they were sold out months ago. But then, the Haworth Traders Association probably get more money from the once a year tourist.

A disgruntled born and bred Haworther.

S PACKER

Windsor Crescent,

Oakworth.

SIR - With reference to the damage caused at Utley Cemetery.

I reported some youths to the police on March 4, this year.

They had overturned a rubbish bin on St Mark's Church steps, tried to gain access to the old morgue (now used for council stores) and then proceeded to jump on graves and kick headstones in the cemetery.

I telephoned the police at 6pm and had to go through the normal interrogation. The operator said the information would be passed on.

At 9pm I again phoned the police to see if they had caught the culprits. They said they had turned out at 6.25pm but could find no sign of damage. Two youths had been asked if they had done anything, but surprisingly they said "no!"

The youths had been seen again at 6.30pm in St Mark's grounds by myself. It's a shame the police didn't look harder.

Now some of your readers may wonder why I didn't take any action myself instead of just viewing these acts of vandalism.

Last December I challenged about 15 youths in St Mark's Church grounds. This resulted in my being arrested in February, accused of assault by four of them (charges then dropped).

So to sum up, if I cannot act promptly -- the schools can't touch them -- the parents can't touch them and don't care anyway - where do we go from here?

J NOON

Skipton Road, Utley.

SIR - I have just seen the article in last Friday's KN about complaints from the Deputy Head of the Special School on Braithwaite Road about the bus stop which had been erected outside the school.

It seems to me that it's about time that someone complains about the parking outside that school during school hours.

There is so much parking on both sides of the road outside the school, over quite a long stretch of the road, that it is virtually a one lane road for the whole of the day and is a complete hazard for all other drivers.

From where I live, I have to drive on that road regularly and it is usually impossible to get straight through. All drivers are having to stop to let other drivers going through from the opposite direction because there is only room for one car to go through. An accident is waiting to happen.

Those zig-zag road markings should be extended to double yellow lines, at least on one side of that road if not both.

L DAVIES

Hill Clough Grove,

Laycock, Keighley

Sir - Keighley house prices recorded by HM Land Registry rose by 11 per cent comparing January-March with a year ago.

Figures released this week provide an average house price across all of this area of £98,000.

Altogether, 424 home sales were registered, with large gains for semis. Moreover, the central area of Keighley began to catch up as buyers favoured more value-for-money properties.

The average price of a Keighley semi-detached house has now reached £107,000 -- up £14,000 on the year. That average includes £204,000 for semis around Haworth Moor, and prices of only a third of that in the centre of town.

Flats are even more in short supply than a year ago, with only six sold, compared with 16 last year.

Whilst there is a boom in the sale of flats countrywide and in both Leeds and Bradford, developers and home-buyers seem to be missing out on the flats opportunity in Keighley.

In the Riddlesden and East Morton areas, house prices continue to rise faster than the Keighley average as the Bingley by-pass effect rumbles on. An average semi thereabouts in the New Year would have set buyers back £20,00 more than a year earlier.

Properties around Haworth Moor continue to head the price league, with averages for all sorts of properties tending to be half as much again in price as the average for our area.

Worth Valley semis averaged £204,000. Probably even more now!

The Land Registry also shows that house prices are rising faster in our region than down south.

So is this difference just us catching up, or are we going up faster long-term?

I can't say for sure. What we do know is that southern regions have experienced a 200 per cent growth since 1993, whereas our region is up by 140 per cent. Perhaps that big difference indicates that there's a lot more to go before a local price plateau is reached?

Andrew Dundas

Devonshire Street

Keighley