Letters to the Editor

I am the widow of another Bartle who spent many happy years at the same cinema, long before "your" Mr Bartle worked there.

He was sent to work at the Cavendish Cinema but for quite a while at the Bront Cinema, at Haworth. That is where I met him. At the time he worked with Mr Elijah Moorehouse, also at the Picture House. In those days people used to have to wait to get in the cinema. I have seen them half-way down Alice Street, near where the Ritz Cinema was. In those days there was no Ritz Cinema, not until later.

I shall be 90 years old next April. I remember one Sunday show at the Bront Cinema, the other person didn't turn up so my lovely Geoffrey asked me if I would do the "change over" on the machine. I said I didn't know if I could, so he showed me. I managed it, so the show went on.

We married each other and had 48 years of love and happiness until he died on his third heart attack. A nicer man you could never meet. He was very well liked when we went to live in East Anglia and I have my lovely memories of our meetings at the Picture House cinema, which I shall never forget.

Thank you for the memories, God Bless.

ANN BARTLE, Hebden Road, Haworth

SIR - Reading your article on the proposed Silsden guidebook last week reminded me of an amusing incident which occured in the 50s.

I was a car salesman at the time, and as I demonstrated a car to a Silsden business man, the route took us down Priest Bank, Kildwick.

As you will know, this is a very steep hill, and on the incline we were met by a learner driver in a Bond three wheel Minicar.

These cars were made in Preston in the 50s, and powered by a 250cc motorcycle engine, hence not a lot of power.

The driver was having a lot of trouble, and the car was "kangarooing" quite a lot, whereupon my customer said - "Seesta, bridlereested in t'ill".

Although I was born and bred in Steeton, this was a new saying to me, but it was explained as what the old horse drovers said when their horses baulked at a hill when pulling a heavy load, in English, "Resting on the bridle in a hill!"

I have never forgotten this colourful phrase, and I don't think I have heard it since.

Frank Greenway,

Hollins Bank Farm, Steeton

SIR - As a regular user of Devonshire Park, along with hundreds of other local people, I read "Historian's fountain of joy plan for public" in the Keighley News with some consternation.

The fountain has been sited in its present location since Devonshire Park opened in 1888, and it would be a sad loss if it were to be removed now. True, it is not in mint condition, but as your article suggests, it "could easily be repaired".

Could I respectfully suggest that Malcolm Hanson leaves our park alone and goes back to Skipton to make his "discoveries"? At the very least, a little consultation with local users before he makes his plans to launch his campaign to re-site valued local treasures wouldn't come amiss.

By all means commission a new sculpture for the Church Green developments and make this a 21st century public space in the centre of the town, but the magnificent sculpture that we already have has a home.

Kate Bacon

Highfield, Keighley

SIR - Mr Samuels' letter regarding the management of the Town Council as it is at present is way off the mark.

If he had ever been in the office over the past two years he would have seen how things are run -- the regular internal audits and an efficiently run office giving excellent value for money.

I cannot comment on the Aire Worth Reform group only to say that the Town Council has moved on since then, is pro-active and efficient.

I take exception to the writer's comments that "democracy has been corrupted" - by whom may I ask? The word corrupt means "open to or involving bribery or other dishonest practices". I suggest that if Mr Samuels has any specific information regarding corrupt practices he contacts either myself or the Police.

If Mr Samuels is aware of any "secret meetings" that he considers unlawful, again please contact me or the Police.

The Town Council is probably one of the most forward looking organisations in the district and has been innovative and pro-active.

For every Mr Samuels who is willing to knock the Town Council our Councillors are receiving letters of thanks and verbal encouragement for the work that they are doing for the community.

ME BAILEY

Town Clerk

SIR - The argument as to whether or not exam standards have slipped in recent years will probably never cease, but most proponents of rising standards confine themselves to the relatively safe ground of the last 20 years or so, unlike Bob Ford who also seems happy to denigrate his peer group of 40 years ago with a counter productive conjecture that his generation was a good deal thicker than the current crop.

I suspect that I took my O Levels at much the same time (1960) as Mr Ford and I have no doubt at all that the goal posts have been moved (and to a considerable degree) as the education system shifted from concentrating on getting a supposed academic elite of some five per cent into university to the as yet unrealised ambition to give a full 50 per cent a university degree.

Back in 1962 Mr Ford would have needed no more than a single A Level pass to get into a teacher training college. The right five O levels (Latin was a common essential) and two A Levels (passes, not A grades) might have got him into one of the less prestigious red brick universities.

So were we really as thick and as badly taught as a simple comparison with the present day would suggest? Of course not, and I look forward to the editor giving more space to Mr Ford so he can spell out precisely what are the mind bogglingly complex "concepts" that would have baffled us had we had the chance to meet them but which "today's candidates handle with aplomb".

Roger Chapman

Clay Hall Farm

Thwaites Brow Road

SIR - I am sorry that so many of your readers were unhappy with my comments about A-levels last week.

I made no criticism of students or teachers in my remarks, indeed quite the contrary. Students can only pass the exams put in front of them, and the vast majority of them and their teachers have worked incredibly hard and deserve their success.

However, it is perfectly clear that their success has been undermined by a system where over 96 per cent of people pass.

Passing an exam can only be a great achievement if some people fail, and we will soon be at the stage where everyone is told they have passed.

We have a situation now where employers' organisations are saying that they no longer have faith in A-levels as a reliable judge of a candidate, and universities are also saying they will have to use a different criteria to judge their candidates.

That means that those people who have worked tirelessly to earn their grades at A-Level now have to jump through more hoops to prove themselves because the politically correct current system where nobody can be seen to fail has devalued their achievements.

It's like the Emperors New Clothes; everybody knows it but nobody dare say it because of the predictable reaction we saw in your letters page to my comments.

Mr Ford clearly does not know that my father is a recently retired school teacher who saw pupils who would never have passed their A-levels a number of years ago getting good grades recently. The University of Buckingham also did research which showed that a piece of work which would have got an 'E' grade in 1988 would get a 'B' grade today. Perhaps Mr Ford thinks they have no idea about education either.

Tina Matthews is quite right to say that I have two young sons. I want them to go through an education system which teaches them that if they work hard they will pass and if not they will fail, rather than be given a certificate for completing their course. It is best that they learn this harsh fact of life then rather than later in life. It was refreshing to hear the Deputy Headmaster of a school whose pupils all scored straight As in their GCSEs to admit that this was due to the exams having become easier rather than better teaching standards in the school.

I believe occasionally an MP has a duty to say uncomfortable and unpopular things so as to bring about a much needed change, and start a debate.

We face a crossroads in our exam system. We can either carry on burying our heads in the sand, pretending that never ending improvements in grades are all well deserved, or we take action to restore the credibility of these exams.

Philip Davies MP

Shipley

SIR - Craig Blackburn may well have found that magazine in the St Andrew's surgery waiting room, but it was not there a month ago when I, as a member of the Patients Council, went in to help Mrs Woollard out by way of clearing all the old and dog-eared magazines out.

It beggars belief that a surgery only opened for eleven years would have a 34 year old magazine in the waiting room.

The cleaners on a daily basis also throw out old magazines.

If any patient at this practice has any constructive criticism you will be listened to. We also do 'thank yous' too.

The Patients Council is looking for new members, so if you would like to be a member of our group please ask at the surgery, you will not be paid but Arlene does do a real nice spread.

V TAYLOR

Slack Lane, Oakworth,

Keighley

SIR - As an outsider and almost complete stranger, how nice it is that I should find so much spontaneous goodwill and friendliness among the people of Keighley, be they young or old.

Of course, this does not mean that everybody in Keighley give you a big beaming smile, grabs you by the hand and shakes it vigorously.

It means that there are enough folk only too ready to make the first move by way of giving time of day before exchanging a few cheery words. It's enough to reassure you that "no man is an island", and "enough is a feast".

All this is in marked contrast with the town where I used to live, where people prided themselves on their so-called "friendliness', even their local paper declaring to the rest of the world that they were "renowned" for it. Yet, if you weren't born and bred there, or did not make the first move, you'd be lucky to get time of day, never mind a few words -- forget about a cup of tea. So Keighley, by comparison, is nothing short of Utopia!

It's well worth asking just what one does mean by "friendliness," recalling that Humpty Dumpty said that whenever he chose a word it meant exactly what he wanted it to mean, nothing more and nothing less.

To me it means reaching out to bestow our goodwill on others, not just passively, even graciously accepting it. It is to bring a little ray of sunshine or happiness into somebody else's life, to give them a sense of well-being or one of feeling good about themselves, a sense of belonging and not one of being ignored or simply tolerated.

After all, a smile and a kind word cost nothing yet can mean so much. It's Bravo, Keighley.

"OUTSIDER"

(Alias Brendan C

Murray)

c/o Aireworth Grove,

Stockbridge,

Keighley