Price of a pinta just doesn’t add up, but will it cost us our dairy farms?

further to the letter last Saturday from Linda Sharp about reinstating the doorstep delivery of milk, I too was a great believer in the daily pinta from the milkman. But when he was having three Caribbean holidays a year and I was having none then I thought it time to move on.

Jealousy? – No! Just do the maths. The supermarket is selling the same product.

If I thought my few pence would save a dairy farm then it may be different. I would also not look forward to the day when our milk comes from France. As a merchant seaman I have to endure the torture of long life milk and others. The first thing I used to do on arriving at Kings Cross was to order a pint of milk or even ask for a bottle (they did not sell milk in those days). It is still one of the items that are missed when overseas.

From: Pamela Frankland, Hull Road, Dunnington, York.

further to the RSPB attributing the loss of birds due to farming methods, my brother-in-law recently constructed two owl boxes putting them on top of high stakes in the field. He is delighted to find “pellets” and an owl inside one – he hurriedly left failing to inspect the other.

The winter weather has sadly killed off so many owls and other birds too, so it is a joy to discover this happening.

Our neighbour reported spending a fruitful half hour watching an owl walking the hedge backs – perhaps the same one, as the boxes are in the next field. My brother-in-law built a duck house for a few pence – the ex-MP who cost us taxpayers “mega bucks” please note. Two ducks are now swimming on his man-made pond, so the future looks good for ducklings. If we are fortunate enough to get a dry spring as we did last year, wildlife will benefit handsomely.

From: David Beal, Thornhill Drive, Walton, Wakefield.

In his article about volunteering (Country Week 12 February), Liam Creedon quoted a Wildlife Trusts spokeswoman’s description of coppicing which was not completely accurate.

Coppicing is a craft which has been practised for centuries. It is not merely the thinning of tree branches.

Trees were cut at ground level for the purpose of cultivating multiple shoots from the base. These grew straight and strong and, when sufficiently mature, were harvested and used in various ways to make implements for working the land, such as handles for rakes, hoes etc.

The timber would also be used for construction of gates, fences and hurdles as well as for fuel. Most commonly, hazel was the species used, although some other species, rowan for example, are suitable.

Enabling light to reach the woodland floor, thus encouraging dormant plants to flourish and providing habitat for birds and other wildlife, was an incidental benefit of coppicing, though not its prime purpose. Each year, a different section of woodland is coppiced so that, over a rotation period of 15-20 years, an annual supply of usable timber is produced.

Visitors to Aysgarth Falls can see coppicing being practised in the woodland on the north side of the River Ure adjacent to the falls. The woodland is owned and managed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.