Garden is definitely open to all

Our intention is to encourage respect for, and responsible use of the Green by all sections of the community, and we would like to thank the many visitors who contribute to the success of the project by acting in this spirit.

We recognise that there may be some conflicts between different groups of users, but believe that wherever possible, these should be resolved without recourse to a heavy-handed or over-intrusive approach.

We would also like to reassure your readership that there is no intention to 'discourage senior citizens from taking advantage of the amenities' on the site.

As evidence of this, we hope that visitors will soon be able to enjoy a choice of new seats and benches due to be installed shortly; and in the longer term we intend to make improvements to the paths which will increase their safety and ease of use for the less able visitor.

We hope that such features will be respected and appreciated, and that all users of the Green will derive a lasting pleasure from the area.

Dr Peter Harnett

Chairman of Darwin Gardens Trust

Darwin defence

SIR, - I have resisted replying to letters in the Press about my involvement, or not, as the case may appear to some, at the Darwin Gardens Millennium Green, mainly because it is a community project and should not be overshadowed by one or two people.

However, after pressure from my family, friends, residents, visitors, members of the media and others, it is time to put the record straight once and for all.

A reader's letter in Your Comment (July 13) states: "Frazer's speech and subsequent news articles (namely the Gazette edition of June 29) have been too focused on 'glory seeking' when he himself had hardly any hands-on input into the project."

If the writer in question had inquired, he would have found that but for me putting the project Seeds of an Idea to Ilkley Parish Council after their requests for millennium projects, there would have been no Darwin Gardens Millennium Green in Ilkley.

In fact, much of what you see atop Wells Road comes from Seeds of an Idea, albeit transformed one way or another today.

After Ilkley Parish Council turned down a developer's wish for the name, Cooper Court, I was determined to link the name of Jilly Cooper to a project in the town. In reply to a letter from me, Jilly agreed to open the gardens on June 24, 2000.

Over the past ten months I have been in regular contact with more than 40 local radio stations nationwide, giving updates on Darwin Gardens, not to mention articles in the Press (local and national) from 1995 onwards.

Ilkley ex-pats abroad would not have known about Darwin Gardens had I not used the Ilkley Pages website to trace people who might have been born at the former St Winifred's Maternity Home.

Quite a number later bought stones in the Millennium Maze. Ex-pats in this country were also alerted to the project via the BBC's The Search programme.

Due to my Internet activity, sites associated with the name 'Darwin' were given information about the project. Kew Gardens, botanical gardens worldwide, the Royal Geographical Society, Smithsonian Institute in the US, the National US Geographical Magazine, Dr Padraig Whelan (vice-president of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands), Dr Charles Urbanowicz (California State University), the Darwin Tourist Board of Australia, Mitsubishi in America and Japan, Askham Bryan College (York), the Universities of Hull, Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge, the Natural History Museum in London, Bromley Town website in Kent, the Trincomalee Trust are to name but a few.

Many of the above receive regular updates about Darwin Gardens and Ilkley itself, too.

On the question of my speech, Dr Harnett and I discussed its content long before the opening ceremony. It was decided that I should give a background to the area, including the Darwinian connection and where the project originated.

Because the early work, prior to my handing 95 per cent of Seeds of an Idea to Dr Harnett in 1998 had been done by me personally, people who gave support in the beginning, including my family, were thanked at the opening festivities, or later by letter.

As, too, the good wishes from the Prince of Wales and Ros Cameron of the Charles Darwin Research Station, Galapagos. The latter was rather fitting, given the title of the play by Ilkley Plahouse Players - From Ilkley to Galapagos.

It was felt that Dr Harnett, as chairman of the Darwin Gardens Trust, should be the one to thank Jilly Cooper and her husband, Leo, for coming to Ilkley - also Trust members, the Darwin Gardens Army, Countryside Agency, commercial and private contributors, schools, Wharfedale Workshops, Ilkley Playhouse and a host of other contributors.

In return, Jilly thanked those people she wished before opening the gardens. No-one was overlooked by me who would not have been thanked by Dr Harnett or Jilly Cooper.

I scarcely think the above merits the terms 'glory-seeking' or 'hardly any hands-on input'. In fact, the latter is somewhat of an understatement to those who know my contribution to what has become your Darwin Gardens Millennium Green.

It is up to you, the community, to show your support for Dr Harnett and Mr Brian Hill by joining with them at Darwin Gardens and help in taking my Vision for the Future into this and coming centuries as yours and Ilkley's too.

I rest my case.

FRAZER IRWIN

Queens Road,

Ilkley.

Cancer comment

SIR, - Whilst I am not in a position to comment on the facilities of the cancer outpatient services at Airedale Hospital, which have been given extensive Press coverage recently (Mr R Wherrett's letter, June 22), I am able to give correct information as to the exact nature of services provided by the two local hospices.

I am most concerned with the authoritative way Mr Wherrett writes about the lack of Macmillan services in the Airedale area.

He is quite correct that there are no specific Macmillan Cancer Relief services, but there definitely are two specialist nurses who operate from the Marie Curie Centre, Ardenlea, and three who operate from the Sue Ryder Hospice, Manorlands.

These five specialist nurses provide exactly the same services as a Macmillan nurse undertakes and they cover all of the Airedale area in question. That is, they:

1. Care for patients and their families from the time the GP refers for specialist support until the death of the patient, extending support for the family in their bereavement.

2. Have specialist knowledge and skills of pain and other symptom management, working closely with the patient's GP and district nurse. They also have access to lend out special equipment in order to make life more comfortable throughout the patient's illness.

3. Provide a service to non-cancer patients, namely those with Motor Neurone Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and other life-threatening illnesses.

Marie Curie and Sue Ryder do not 'only deal with terminal care, the care of patients in the final stages of disease'.

The services we offer are much broader than this and encompass specialist palliative care for people with cancer and other life-threatening diseases, at any stage of the person's illness.

Local representatives from Macmillan Cancer Relief, Sue Ryder Foundation, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Airedale NHS Trust are working together in an endeavour to enhance the current services still further, particularly concentrating on the service provision in Craven.

SHEENA M BRADLEY

Centre Director,

Marie Curie Centre,

Ardenlea,

Queen's Drive, Ilkley.

Bypass support

SIR,- I applaud the renewed call for an Ilkley bypass, which is long overdue and now very necessary,

Whilst I am not among the privileged few who dwell in the higher echelons of the town, as in the case of a previous writer, I am in a position to experience the full implications of the volume of traffic throughout the town.

The roads of Ilkley were never meant to carry huge trucks and ever increasing traffic. These large trucks are continually thundering through, or parking on footpaths causing damage. On wet days they soak pedestrians when passing, not to mention the fumes from cars and trucks. Let us not miss the opportunity this time, we must lobby for a bypass without delay and make sure that this Government uses the money for what it is meant for, out roads.

DAVID HANSON

125 Leeds Road

Ilkley

Superb show

SIR, - I have just returned from seeing yet another marvellous Upstagers production at the King's Hall, 'Fame'.

The acting, singing, dancing and music were all of such a consistently professional level that I could have been in West Yorkshire Playhouse or the Alhambra. It is such an uplifting experience to see a show of this calibre on the amateur stage that I kept asking myself, 'Why isn't this hall packed to bursting? Everyone in Ilkley and beyond should be watching this.'

Gill Jackson consistently produces exceptional shows. Everyone involved not only displays phenomenal talent but also incredible determination and hard work. Hours of rehearsals and behind-the-scenes planning goes into every performance and the results are a reflection of that dedication, enthusiasm and energy, which epitomise the Upstagers group.

Not only are the shows in themselves such achievements, but every child, teenager and adult who takes part also gains immensely from the whole project. My 11-year-old son has been involved this year in both the Christmas Pantomime and the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the experience has enriched his self confidence enormously. He has committed himself to the work involved with enthusiasm, as have his friends.

The superb quality of Upstagers productions is the result of voluntary work. Hours and hours and hours. It is so disappointing when audiences are not as big as they could be, since it is the takings at the box office which provide funds for new shows. The people of Ilkley are privileged to have such a remarkable asset in its midst. Do not stay away come and watch! You will truly not need to travel to the city to see such professional talent demonstrating their enjoyment and celebration of the Arts. They deserve your support.

Elizabeth Stein

1 Shannon Close, Ilkley