Town Hall is a poor venue

DAME Fanny Waterman’s plea for greater local awareness of the Leeds International Piano Competition (Yorkshire Post, January 19) is hampered by the poor quality of the Town Hall, wherein the finals of the competition take place. The building has no restaurants, inadequate toilets, primitive backstage facilities, reverberant acoustics, poor sight lines, uncomfortable and cramped seating, no parking and a generally dreary atmosphere.

Leeds cries out for a concert hall to match The Sage in Newcastle, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester or Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

Whenever I have made this point in national magazines Dame Fanny comes to the support of our Town Hall.

Yes, it’s a nice looking old hall, but when it comes to concert halls, looks are not enough!

Freely expressed

From: William Snowden, Dobrudden Park, Baildon Moor, Baildon, Shipley.

BRIAN Sheridan disclosed that “as a liberal by instinct, I am frequently irritated by contributions to the Yorkshire Post letters page” (Yorkshire Post, January 15).

Frequently irritated? Dear me. But a true liberal would surely be more – and certainly less intolerant of contrasting views. Free speech is, after all, one of the cardinal virtues of a democratic society.

Just the tonic

From: Mrs JS Kirkley, Farnham, Knaresborough.

I HAVE had a four-week stay on Farndale Ward at Harrogate Hospital following knee operations.

I couldn’t have had nicer food if I’d been staying in a four-star hotel. It was delicious. Of course they had their own kitchens there, which must make a tremendous difference.

Just thought I would let readers know how good it was!