In praise of rain and our climate

LESLIE Huffadine’s wise letter invites readers to list what bring them moments of “minor happiness” (Yorkshire Post, April 21). I may be deluded but I believe our climate is the best in the world. I love rain, especially the smell as it meets the parched earth at the end of a dry spell such as we are enjoying as I write. I like to sit with the conservatory doors open, watching it nourish the garden and listening to the noise it makes on the roof. I have fond memories of seaside shelters, sandwiches and flasks of tea.

It even induces a little schadenfreude from time to time; I recall watching with amusement from a Windermere hotel window as bright sunshine suddenly gave way to deluge, prompting a hysterical boat race back to the waterhead. And I abhor car boot sales, garden fetes and especially barbecues.

The case for scruff justice

From: Alfred Gabb, Overton, York.

THREE cheers for GP Taylor (Yorkshire Post, April 23), one of the few people of note, and a Yorkshireman to boot, with the courage to condemn the disintegration of our society.

I think it all started in the 1960s when it became the norm to wear scruffy clothes. Once you lose pride in your appearance, falling standards of behaviour and responsibility follow. The Government needs to legislate against it, even though many of our MPs follow this course in life themselves. They should, after all, be setting an example.

High price of Lincoln degree

From: Max Nottingham, St Faith’s Street, Lincoln.

LINCOLN University intend charging students the top whack – £27,000 – for a three-year degree course. That is £27,000 to pay and no guarantee of an early job when you graduate.

It seems like debt infernal, debt eternal. And the vice-chancellor of the university says: “We are a charity.” Presumably a charity picking the pockets of poor and rich students alike by order of the Tory-led coalition Government.