How Bettys got its name

REGARDING your article on the origin of the name Bettys for the Harrogate tearoom (Yorkshire Post, September 17), the reality, to the best of my knowledge, is that Betty was a fictional character and not a real person.

Apparently, Bettys founder Frederick Belmont saw a show or play which was on at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford called My Lady Betty and the name came from there.

I was told this in the 1940s by a gentleman called John Smith, from Harrogate, who was Mr Belmont’s business partner at that time.

We knew Mr Smith quite well and I have no reason to doubt the veracity of this story.

Towering ambition

From: K Cooper, Dronfield Woodhouse, Sheffield.

THE statue for the Tinsley Towers site on the M1 should be named after the first man to discover stainless steel, ie Harry Brearley, if it is to be made of stainless steel (Yorkshire Post, September 29).

As the twin towers became symbolic of Meadowhall, why not make a frame of the outline of the two towers in stainless steel instead of C-3PO?

Changes needed to voting form

From: George Appleby, Clifton, York.

COMMENTS in the media make it clear that voters with a loyal following for particular parties are few and far between.

Most either don’t see any point in voting, are sick and tired of the same old magic roundabout – and crave for something better, but don’t know what it is or how to get it.

The voting form should include a new voting option for “None of the above”, another for “PR” and (for me) another for “A national crisis government”.