Please don’t write off ‘elderly’ like me at 73 – Yorkshire Post Letters

WHAT heartening letters from Dr Sheila Hopkinson, and from Jerry Diccox (The Yorkshire Post, June 30).

Although a mere youngster at 73 compared with Dr Hopkinson, I entirely concur with her statement that ‘classifying all elderly people as vulnerable is demeaning’.

Elderly is not a word that I wish to be ‘filed under’, but I suppose as a collective noun for those of a pensionable age it is as good as any.

We are as diverse a group as any other in society, and those of us fortunate enough to retain health and mental capacity well past our three score years and ten aspire to make the absolute maximum of the time we have left.

I wish this lady, and her retired greyhound companion, many more happy, active and fulfilling years – a model for me to aspire to in the future.

Mr Diccox’s observations on the actions of some inconsiderate and selfish people are very pertinent. I just trust that, having managed 100 days since ‘lockdown’, without catching the virus, my cautious strategies, which result in considerable periods of voluntary isolation, but also enable me (and my dogs) to have some degree of ‘a life’ which suits us all, will continue to serve us well, until either a vaccine appears or the virus subsides.

With best wishes to your correspondents, and to all of us active folks of a certain age who do not like to be considered / pigeonholed as ‘vulnerable’.

Demolishing Hadrian’s Wall

From: Keith Punshon, Willow Bridge Lane, Dalton, Thirsk.

AS complaints are made about the statue of Constantine the Great, outside York Minster, because slavery existed in the Roman Empire, perhaps the thing to do is to dismantle Hadrian’s Wall as it is clearly racist and divisive.

The bill can be split between the Scottish Government because of Wallace’s pillaging of York and the Scandinavian countries for their complicity in the Viking invasion.

At least Cromwell’s Parliamentary forces smashing up churches had a faith to fight for. Today’s cultural revolution simply hates our history and our country, and loathes tolerance.

It is creating hatreds in which the innocents will suffer along with democratic dialogue. Can’t we just study history without its abolition and then work together to make our country a fairer place to live in for all?

From: John Mitchell, Holmfirth.

I DESPAIR over the recent events concerning the intended removal of the statues of prominent people who have shaped our heritage and those of other countries.

All people have flaws in their characters and the more eminent a person is the more such failings can be exposed. With all the people who are now or may be subject to removal, their contribution to humanity far outweighs their frailties.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor