September 24: Rail revival down to local powers

From: Peter Hemmerman, Chairman, Minsters Rail Campaign, Market Weighton.

A COUPLE of weeks ago the Queen reopened the railway line in Scotland running from Edinburgh to Tweedbank in the Borders (The Yorkshire Post, September 10). It will be both a commuter route and a major tourist route.

It is interesting to compare this to the Minsters Line from Beverley to York which campaigners such as myself have been trying to reopen since 2001.

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The Minsters Line is almost the same length, 30 miles, will cost approximately the same to complete and was closed by Beeching in the 60s.

The difference is that Scotland has a devolved government and can make such decisions and invest in infrastructure.

Yorkshire, of course, does not. Maybe it’s time for that to change?

Self-service selfishness

From: Mr D Appleyard, Saxilby, Lincoln.

I AM happy to use a self-service machine when I do my shopping (Xavier Sharpless, The Yorkshire Post, September 19) and I see some other customers use those self-service machines.

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When we have a free choice of a machine or a cashier, anyone who makes demands for all self-service machines to be phased out, is just being selfish.

When I go into smaller stores, especially a Co-op; Heron; Lidl, Aldi or B&M Bargains, that has no self-service machines, I am being made to wait for a cashier to serve me because there isn’t even one cash desk that is occupied by a cashier. It makes me wish that all these stores would provide self-serving machines.

From: H Marjorie Gill, Clarence Drive, Menston.

REGARDING the people who can’t get the right kind of milk at their local supermarket, I would suggest that you contact your local milkman. My milkman delivers Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The milk comes in returnable bottles, also he will bring eggs, cream and fruit juices. My farmer is very enterprising and offers to sell me joints of meat at Christmas time. Deliveries to the door save me petrol, even if his prices are a little higher. His account comes once a month.

An inspector calls in error

From: Mr D Cook, Cottingham.

SIR Michael Wilshaw, head of Ofsted, suggests it is the lack of support and badly-behaved pupils that causes four out of 10 teachers to quit the profession after the first year. What nonsense! There have always been children that were badly behaved and always will be.

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The hated Ofsted is a relative newcomer to the education scene. It would create more respectability if inspectors, on witnessing a poor lesson, were prepared to show how it might be improved. I have yet to hear of any inspector ever willing to take charge. I wonder why?

From: Iain Morris, Saltaire.

IF you told a lot of middle class people that a lot of working class people have better manners they would just not believe you.

A web of confusion

From: Bob Watson, Baildon.

AN article on page two (The Yorkshire Post, September 17) told us to expect an increase in the number of large spiders in our homes over the next few weeks due to “fine weather throughout the summer”.

In the same paper on page seven, it was reported that this year’s honey harvest is set to be dramatically down on last year “after the poor summer weather”.Confused? I certainly am!

Strange Tory bedfellows

From: Terry Palmer, South Lea Avenue, Hoyland, Barnsley.

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CHANCELLOR George Osborne has said the UK and China are exploring how to link their stock markets which would enable Chinese and British shares to be traded in both countries (The Yorkshire Post, September 23).

He also said the UK and China would “stick together”. Is this the beginning of another “special relationship”? This one would be a first for us especially as we are being run by a Tory government who, it would appear, are prepared to jump into bed with a Communist-run country, no doubt with the blessing of the US. I bet there are billions of pounds involved for the Tory profiteers somewhere along the line.

Excavating city history

From: DH Evans, Beverley.

I ENJOYED your story about the Beverley Gate in Hull (The Yorkshire Post, September 18), but there is an unfortunate error in the caption: it was Charles I who was denied entry into Hull in April 1642 – not Charles II.

The site photograph shows the excavations in either later 1986, or 1987; the gentleman seated in the foreground, next to the planning board, is Peter Armstrong, who directed the work. Peter was one of the most gifted archaeologists ever to work in Hull; it is largely thanks to his efforts that the site of the gate was located so quickly.