Destroying this Garden of Eden

From: Karl Sheridan, Selby Road, Holme on Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire.

BEING fortunate enough to live in a rural part of Yorkshire, I am able to enjoy the pleasure of exercising along the country lanes that surround our village, and being early retired I tend to walk very early in the morning to avoid the heat and the sun, in that I am fair skinned and tend to burn easily.

But what a joy it is to enjoy the scented waft of rapeseed; to enjoy the cow parsley that lines the verges coupled with the pink and white Campion mixed in with dock and dandelions, and to watch as the light breeze ruffles the fields of green wheat and grass.

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What bliss to come upon a rabbit busily engaged in a wash and brush up totally unaware of my approach: to listen to the raucous calls from the rooks and crows, to listen to the blackbird proudly proclaiming his territory, but above all the sheer luxury of enjoying what God has given us.

As I walk I marvel at the fine balance of nature, it brings it home to me that we are the ones that are spoiling the wonderful inheritance that God gave us: we are the means that will bring destruction to this world. And what made me come to this conclusion? It was the discarded Coke can lying in the grass; the empty cigarette packet tossed from a car, the blight of a McDonalds fast food carton even though their nearest outlet is more than 10 miles away: above all the indifferent attitude that most people seem to have to the very environment that sustains them.

Statistics prove that a walk in the countryside can have a benign and therapeutic effect on us all, and yet there are those among us who care little for anything other than themselves and defile the wonders that we have inherited.

I’m glad that I am in my 60s for I dread what lies in store for our children’s children, as we gradually destroy this planet through greed, technology, exploitation and indifference. The Lord God gave us this garden of Eden to manage, and yet look at what we are doing to it.

In praise of quality

From: John Halkon, Hermitage Court, Richmond.

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I AGREE with the recent comments by David Quarrie of York (Yorkshire Post, May 30) about the standard of UK television and his praise for the Swedish police drama The Bridge.

All who are aware of the high standard of Scandinavian film drama must make a point of seeing Headhunters based on the book by Jo Nesbo and directed by Morten Tyldum. This Norwegian crime thriller is set in and around Oslo, is totally atmospheric and holds the viewer spellbound from start to finish. It is part of the noir genre and while it is in Norwegian with sub-titles, this does not lessen the tension one bit, and holds you completely in its grip.

The success of this film now means it is sought by Hollywood to make an English-speaking version. The film was released in the UK cinemas in early April, see it now if you can, do not wait for Hollywood, They cannot make it this good.

Put tax on goods made abroad

From: Bill Heppell, Riseborough House, Rawcliffe Lane, York.

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THIS week I bought a pair of chinos from Marks & Spencer, two pairs of braces from British Home Stores and jogging pants from Tesco. They were made respectively in Indonesia, China and India.

You highlighted the difficulty of university graduates finding any job, regardless of their qualifications (Yorkshire Post, June 1). It is clear that there are not sufficient apprentices or satisfactory jobs for those of lesser education.

These two things must be connected; so long as major companies put profit before their social responsibility then this will not change. The Government should consider putting duty of 100 per cent on goods manufactured abroad which could be produced equally well in this country and zero tax for home-produced goods.

The Thatcher government was blamed for closing our coal mines and selling off water and power to foreigners and John Major for ruining our railway system, but the Blair and Brown Labour government had plenty of years in power to change this and lamentably failed to do so.