Bring Richard to a city that loved him

ON hearing of the death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, York city leaders, at some peril to themselves, wrote of their grief that “he was piteously slane and murdred to the grete hevynesse of this citie”.

Despite the anger of usurper Henry VII, they continued in this vein for months, including insisting on the continuance of one of Richard’s close friends, Miles Metcalfe, in the office of Recorder and several times, having Henry’s chosen replacement marched out of town.

Who would not want to be buried in a place where they were so loved? And there is precedence for believing this is what Richard had in mind. His brother, Edward IV (Windsor) and Henry VII (Westminster) put in place arrangements for burials in exactly the same way as commenced by Richard in York. They lived long enough to finalise their plans. Unfortunately Richard did not.

On the first day of the dig at Leicester, sad, unconfined bones with a twisted spine were found – and not immediately examined – despite clear indications of death by extreme violence. The dig was continued at some expense for several days by which time a very unusual stone coffin had been found. I understand that Mathew Morris, of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services has said that the stone coffin was always the big thing they wanted to investigate.

Richard III was a brave soldier who disliked London and was happy to hold the North for his brother. His actions and death resulted from machinations of power seekers in the South.

Soldiers these days are brought home for burial. As a King of England he deserves final entombment in York Minster – a church suitable for a King, in a city he loved. There are those who may argue Richard did not want to be buried in York but I have never heard of anyone yet who thinks he would have opted for Leicester.

Rail savings for the deaf

From: Fiona Lemmon, Clifton Byres, Clifton, Maltby, Rotherham.

I WOULD like to draw your readers’ attention to one of the qualification criteria of the Disabled Persons Railcard which is probably overlooked by and applies to many rail passengers.

You are eligible for such a card if “you are registered as deaf or use a hearing aid”. Evidence of this has to be provided, of course, when making one’s application but it can be as simple as a copy of the front page of one’s NHS battery book.

The railcard should be issued within 10 working days of the completed application form being received. Currently a one year card costs £20, a three yard card £54.

Not only does it entitle the passenger to a third off rail fares but the same applies to one adult travelling with the passenger. So I am aware that there is extra money saving to be made here.

For example, if a couple travels together on the train as a matter a course, then the price of only one Disabled Persons Railcard is required for both to benefit from reduced fares. As I am a senior citizen with hearing aids and a travel pass which will no longer be valid for free travel from April 1, I will be investing in a DPR for a year to assess whether I will make a cost saving overall on rail travel during that period.

Morrisons after Sir Ken

From: Stuart Asquith, Cyprus Street, Wakefield.

I READ with much interest the column (The Yorkshire Post, March 8) from Tom Richmond and then the letter (The Yorkshire Post, March 12) from H Marjorie Gill.

I worked for Morrisons from the year 2000 to August last year when I retired at 69 years old. I worked nights at Junction 41, Wakefield. In those days you could work seven nights a week if you wanted, getting double time after 60 hours.

Some nights Sir Ken Morrison would walk round, shake your hand, have a chat and always said thank you. When he got pushed out, it went downhill fast. We were no longer names, just numbers. The trouble at Morrisons is too many people at the top getting paid for doing nothing. I could go on all day.

From: Brian Lunn, Pontefract.

I THOROUGHLY agree with Tom Richmond’s article on Morrisons. It has gone downhill since Sir Kenneth retired, the staff are unhelpful and managers are not much better.

If you complained to Sir Kenneth, he would reply and sort it out. Dalton Philips, the current chief executive, passes it on to someone who had not a clue and the reply you get does not match what you complained about.

Smoke screen on smuggling

From: Samantha Coldbeck, Yorkshire and Humberside spokeswoman, Tobacco Retailers’ Alliance, London.

FURTHER to your article ‘Call for Budget tax hike to target smokers’ (The Yorkshire Post, March 12), Deborah Arnott of ASH states: “Raising the price of tobacco through taxation is the most effective way of reducing smoking and saving lives.”

However, the reality is that raising the price of tobacco through taxation is the most effective way of encouraging smokers to buy cheaper tobacco through the black market.

Already a packet of 20 cigarettes costs around £9 in my shop and £4.50 on the black market.

It is precisely because there is so much tax on tobacco in the UK compared to the rest of Europe that the UK has become the smuggling hotspot of the EU.