Wheely bins are blocking paths

When I complained to the council last year I was told householders should place bins at the edge of their property, not on the public footway and the refuse men should return the empty bins to the same place.

It seems the council needs to take action so that pedestrians don't have to walk in the road.

In cases where householders have no space for putting out the bin within their property, the bin could be left on the road against the kerb.

After all, we leave cars there and nobody complains of obstruction.

GM Hoyle

Burnside Crescent, Skipton.

Friendly warning

SIR - I would like, through your columns, to provide a little forewarning for our neighbours in Cracoe, especially for those with pets.

At our daughter's wedding reception at Cracoe Village Hall on Wednesday (February 14), we plan a short firework display at around 8.30 to 9pm.

There will not be many fireworks, but those which we have could be quite loud, and we would not like anyone to be startled by them.

Bryn and Elaine Glover,

Cracoe.

Let bells chime

SIR - I have always considered myself Yorkshire born and bred. I was born in the village of Giggleswick and lived in Settle until I was 15 when I moved back into the village about 100 yards from the church tower.

I was also a pupil at Catteral Hall and Giggleswick School for eight years.

One of the things that I missed most when I moved south was that I couldn't hear the church bells chiming. There's just something about them that is calming and reassuring. Maybe it is that fact that they have chimed for longer than I have been alive. For me, the bells have always represented the heartbeat of the community.

I was very distressed to hear about the decision to switch the chimes off at night and annoyed at the fact that the decision was made without the people of the village being consulted.

I am currently looking forward to my next visit home and sincerely hope that the bells will be chiming throughout the night. For I know that I won't be able to sleep if they are not.

Miss MJ Robinson,

The Park,

Sidcup, Kent.

Premature

SIR - Attention was drawn in your columns last week to the potential revenue which may be realised through the sale of the Burnside allotment site.

As clerk to Skipton Town Council I need to make it clear that while a sale has been agreed, it is subject to planning permission being granted by Craven District Council.

Until such permission has been granted it is premature to speculate on how it could or should be spent. The town council as a corporate body at the appropriate time listen, as always, to observations from local taxpayers prior to arriving at a decision through the democratic process.

Andrea Adams,

Clerk to Skipton Town Council,

Sheep Street, Skipton.

A great idea

SIR - I would like to add my agreement to the letter from Coun Hall (Craven Herald, February 2).

I agree that something wants doing to that area of land on Burnside.

It does seem a little unfair taking away the allotments but not many people want allotments these days.

Coun Hall has come up with some good thoughts and I agree that if there is any money from the sale of the land it has to be put to good use.

The Town Hall does need a lot of attention and if a partnership could be formed we would all have some benefit. I hope that Coun Hall can make some progress as I think his thoughts are very welcome.

CJ Walker,

Ex-Skiptonian,

Ribblesdale estate,

Long Preston.

Disabled access

SIR - We are a group of people from Barnoldswick and Earby called the Wheels and Feet group.

We are all people with disabilities and use wheelchairs. Each year we have been unable to go for a group meal as there hasn't been a local restaurant with access for people with wheelchairs. But this year we were able to do so.

Earby's Bangla Diner has had the forethought to furbish their restaurant with people like us in mind. The staff were helpful and friendly and they gave us plenty of room, as well as having disabled toilets.

We would like to applaud them for their consideration and tell the local disabled community that at last there is somewhere and someone that accepts us as equals.

Wheels and Feet Group,

Barnoldswick Community Centre,

Station Road, Barnoldswick.

Memories

SIR - A somewhat late response to your excellent photos in the January 5 edition. International mail is sometimes a little slow !

One picture illustrated Skipton council's entry in the 1951 Skipton Gala and the two gentlemen are Geoff Holmes, (left) and Eric Hargreaves, both members of the health department.

My father, Geoff Holmes, was responsible in those days for meat inspection at the old slaughterhouse, located over the canal bridge backing on to the canal basin close to the old fire station, as well as supervising the collection of refuse and cardboard etc.

The cardboard bales were crushed in one of the nissen huts located in the top right corner of the "cattle market", behind the town hall. These were demolished I presume when the facility moved to the old railway engine sheds in the late 1960s.

As a young boy in the 50s, my father would sometimes take me to both on a Saturday morning when he had to work. If memory serves me correctly, a visit to the slaughterhouse was not a favourite pastime!

Incidentally the nissen huts, in addition to collecting and baling cardboard, at one time served as temporary accommodation for T Howcroft and Son after a fire severely damaged their premises on Duckett Street, sometime in the 50s.

Sadly my father passed away in 1986 but Jack Howcroft survives today in one on the few remaining family businesses with brother Geoffrey, son Roger and granddaughter Vicky.

Thanks to my brother Doug who sends me the paper every week.

Michael Holmes,

4065 Bullittsville Road,

Burlington, Kentucky, USA.

Lights tribute

SIR - I write on behalf of Silsden Parish Council's Christmas Lights Committee and would like to thank everyone who has supported our display this year.

We would like to thank all shops and businesses that allowed us to place a collecting box on their premises.

The collecting boxes raised £408.84 which is a fantastic sum of money. All the money will go towards making next year's display of lights the best yet.

We would also like to offer our sincere thanks to the landlord of the Robin Hood pub, the landlord of the Punchbowl Inn, Gino from Cut Italia and Mrs Kershaw from Kirkgate News, all of whom made their own personal contribution to our appeal.

Thanks also to the proprietor of Kirkgate Cafe who supplied our volunteers with tea and coffee when the lights were erected and taken down and also the staff who put their tips in the box. Lastly, our thanks to Colin Reed for distributing the collecting boxes and counting their contents, which was no mean feat!

Mrs Joanne Conway,

Christmas Lights Committee,

Silsden Parish Council.

Puzzling gates

SIR - I'm bothered by the recently laid road surface a few hundred yards the Rylstone side of the Craven Heifer, a pattern of chunky chippings which vibrate as vehicles cross them.

This exact site was previously mentioned by a letters correspondent in your columns, drawing attention to two transverse dry stone walls evidently to mark the boundary of the national park.

My impression is that immediately a driver feels the vibration, they very properly scan to identify the hazard but on this plain stretch of road there is none.

Diversion of concentration can sometimes result in accidents. It would be a pity if, in this case, one has to assume the pads are there to engineer feelings of pride that the driver should be so privileged actually to be driving in the national park, and, I suspect, a feeling of misguided overweening pomposity in the person who authorised it if this be the reason.

If the vibration pads are thought to be an essential safety measure, as well as a means of drawing attention to the ethos of the national park, then it is logical to assume they will be provided wherever an ordinary road enters the park.

A rough calculation seems to indicate that the initial site survey, preparation of a specification, sanction for expenditure, consideration of a tender, appointment of a sub-contractor, provision of materials, a heavy vehicle, two men at least plus a set of traffic lights may cost at least one thousand pounds.

If this is to take place at every crossing, it would be necessary to ask the national park either to confirm the suppositions, or give an exact figure for this particular site and to name the authority and person who sanctioned the scheme.

If, unhappily, this investigation reveals a misguided application of power, the public could be forgiven for seeing this as an example of "Big Brother Watching", something I am sure the chief executive would be anxious to avoid.

Donald Wilcox,

Garrs End Lane, Grassington.

Discriminatory

SIR - Re the letter from Dudley Thomas in your issue of February 2, I am not surprised that he got hold of the wrong end of the stick in your article, as there was not enough of it seen to enable him to grasp it all.

I have no problem with identifying myself anywhere and the front of my helmet lifts up so my face is clearly visible. The fact is the sign said "Motorcyclists please remove helmet before entering" and as such discriminated against motorcyclists, and did not achieve the management's aim of being able to identify people entering the shop because it didn't apply to anyone else wearing a helmet: ie a robber in a car.

Furthermore on cold days many motorcyclists wear a balaclava under their helmets so if they do remove the helmet the face could still not be seen.

Even if the sign had said "the face of anyone entering the shop to be clearly visible" it would have contravened the Human Rights Act because it would have discriminated against Moslem women who want to wear a veil.

The Human Rights act is not politically correct claptrap it is a powerful tool to protect everyone.

If the act had been in force and observed in Europe in the 1930s the Jews could not have been forced to wear stars, and everything that led up to the holocaust could not have happened. It is the duty of everyone to stand up for the rights of minority groups whatever form they take. Remember "All that is required for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing".

L Walton,

Lower Park Green, Sildsen.

A great idea

SIR - Your correspondent Roger Cook (Letters February 2) suggests your readers write to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority to make known your views on local rail services.

In response to an article in your paper last September I wrote to that authority on September 15, expressing my and my husband's views regarding the possibility of re-opening the line between Hellifield and Lancashire.

I had all but forgotten the subject when I received a reply in January apologising for the delay in replying but so full of jargon that I could find nothing in the letter relating directly to the subject.

All I needed was an assurance that customers' views would be taken into account when the subject comes up for discussion. I hope other readers will be more successful than I was.

Mrs O Payne,

Marton Close, Gargrave.

Best prospects

SIR - I have been following the discussion on the future of local primary health care in the Craven Herald and would agree with Dr Gibson that the best prospects for the Craven area would be to keep the Craven-Airedale alignment.

Several years ago there were similar discussions regarding the amalgamation of the family and youth courts of Skipton and Harrogate, the outcome being that those in Skipton were taken under the "umbrella" of Harrogate.

In my opinion and experience, this turned out to be less than satisfactory for several reasons.

Most committee meetings and decisions concerning Craven were conducted in Harrogate and at times to suit their agenda. Harrogate matters dominated the meetings. Rail, road and bus links with Harrogate were difficult or non-existent for all concerned.

In my opinion, there will ever be a more natural affinity for people in Craven towards those lower down the Aire valley.

Communications dictate this. It is easy to imagine that there will be a natural "rubbing of shoulders" of primary and intermediate care personnel when they meet perforce in the corridors of Airedale General Hospital which will, after all, continue to be Craven's hospital.

Joining with Harrogate will require a host of additional lines of communication to be established and in the nature of things this must lead to additional administrative work and delays.

Thus it is that I feel we are best served by people like Dr Gibson, who represented us on the Airedale NHS Trust whilst actually living and working in the Craven area. Further, the facilities of Airedale and allied intermediate care could well attract more funding being on the edge of a densely populated urban area.

The recent excellent report Airedale Hospital has received will benefit both Craven and West Yorkshire alike.

Heather Longbottom,

Stirton Grange, Skipton.

SIR - It is interesting to note that in his letter (Craven Herald January 26) Robert Allen singles out mental health to illustrate the possible consequences for community services of Craven PCG merging with Harrogate.

Airedale NHS Trust can be rightly proud of the community mental health care it provides, when compared to the service in Harrogate, and it is understandable that they don't want to lose the service to the proposed Harrogate/Craven PCT.

It is a pity that the same cannot be said for the in-patient facilities at Airedale General Hospital. Comparison with the facilities at Harrogate District Hospital, which has a purpose-built mental health care in-patient facility, highlights the shortcomings of locating wards for people with mental health problems in the midst of a general hospital.

It seems that both trusts have chosen different priorities for mental health care, because there have been insufficient funds to provide the best of all worlds for everyone. One hopes that the Government initiative to identify 'best practice' through the National Service Framework objectives will result in Airedale improving its in-patient facilities, and Harrogate improving its community mental health care.

If Airedale wants to keep mental health care and encourage Craven PCG to join Airedale PCT, then it could do worse than rush through plans for a purpose-built separate building for psychiatric in-patients, incorporating the Therapeutic Centre.

Loretta Gooch,

Secretary, Craven Mind,

Midland Terrace,

Hellifield