Fresh call of the cuckoo

WHEN I was young, there were certain harbingers of spring on the family farm. The new lambs, the fresh flowers, the returning swallows and, most of all, the call of the cuckoo.

Sadly, in recent years, the latter has become almost a distant memory in these parts.

It was therefore a surprise and delight the other evening when walking near Thruscross Reservoir, one of my favourite spots, to suddenly hear a cuckoo.

I thought I must be imagining things and began to doubt my hearing. However, the other day, I walked in the same area and there it was again.

Perhaps there is hope for this endangered species, or is it a case that Thruscross offers some peculiar attraction which the rest of this area does not have?

Documenting an identity crisis

From: Ken Hartford, Durham Mews, Butt Lane, Beverley.

ON a number of occasions recently, I have prented my original birth certificate (with full name, place of birth and date which was four days after our present Queen – April 25, 1926) together with a wartime blue identity card and they were both rejected as sufficient identity.

I had to produce a recently- paid council tax bill or an easily recognisable personal sales receipt! Might I suggest that perhaps the Government has become a bit too dictatorial?

Airport failure

From: Dennis Whitaker, The Grove, Baildon, Shipley.

IS Leeds Bradford Airport fit to be called an International Airport? Not only do they fail to provide an “all weather” drop off/pick up point, but they now charge £2 for this (essential) activity.

Credit folly

From: Andrew Mercer, Oxford Road, Guiseley.

WHY should the banks lend even more money (Yorkshire Post, May 24) to small businesses? The easy availability of credit is one reason why this recession is far more serious than past slumps.