Verge cutting inappropriate

IN a recent BBC Countryfile programme, time was given to the demise of honeybees in this country through loss of habitat. Bearing this in mind, we now see the needless destruction of our roadside native flowers by cash strapped councils and private landowners, with the inappropriate cutting of our roadside verges.

The most extreme cases are in the Farnham and Occaney areas near Knaresborough where, instead of green verges, we now have a mushy mess of dying grass and soil.

I would like to remind people that birds not only nest in hedgerows, but many summer visiting species nest on the ground and that it is illegal to destroy a bird’s nest.

The councils will argue that it is a road safety issue. Trim back some of the corners, yes, but in the Harrogate area, where are the white lines on some of the roads?

Switch better late than never

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

BETTER late than never for the 80-year-old Yorkshireman J Lewis who has just switched to the Yorkshire Post from a national newspaper, the name of which I will not deign to mention (Yorkshire Post, May 15).

He will find in the Yorkshire Post a centre/Right paper which, unlike “that” publication, does not play to the gallery. He will find an outstanding, eclectic sports section.

The Yorkshire Post recognises that the overwhelming majority of football fans only have a secondary interest in the top of the Premier League but in no way could it be accused of being parochial.

All the supplements are excellent, but perhaps for a reader whose feminine side is, shall we say, underdeveloped, I must mention Life & Style for the extraordinary quality of the writing.