Time called on violence in pubs

HOW I agree with Rosey Prince that the cause of “risky drinking” is not pubs but cheap drink from supermarkets and nightclubs (Yorkshire Post, September 18). A picture of a man drinking a pint in a pub is unfair and misses the point completely.

Yes, as a child during the 1940s I recall seeing men tacking their way home from the pub in the mining town where I grew up. Sometimes there were fights, especially on a Saturday night, but they were quaintly dignified, as if the contestants were aware of the Marquis of Queensberry rules as they circled each other, fists raised. To put the boot in would be unthinkable.

No mention of women, of course: at least we have progressed in that respect. Now, the pubs which survive away from town centres are usually models of probity, with men and women socialising side by side in a controlled environment.

Some of the images of disorder involving drunken young men and, it has to be said, women, are truly shocking. Yet, having frequented pubs since my 18th birthday – I was a pedant even then – I can honestly say I do not recall ever having witnessed a hint of trouble.

French lessons on folly of HS2

From: John Spink, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield.

FABULOUS news last week that HS2, by clipping 10 minutes off journey times for business people travelling to the capital, is going to generate one million new jobs for Leeds and Sheffield.

If it’s all about speed, then haven’t they learned from TGVs in Europe what four stops in 200 miles does to the timetable, and that could be bettered on conventional routes through selected trains running non-stop from Yorkshire to the capital?

If it’s all about capacity, as a train traveller two or three times a week, I see many four and five coach inter-city trains that with a little investment on rolling stock could be transformed into eight or 10 coach units.

Those actions, and a focus on removing specific bottlenecks on the East Coast main line and Midland Mainline, could achieve so much more than this expensive and grandiose folly.