Yorkshire's beauty has made giving up air travel no hardship: Yorkshire Post Letters

Like Mr Asquith-Cowen (The Yorkshire Post, Ignore hypocritical celebrities and head abroad for summer holidays, August 2), I enjoy holidays but needn’t damage the environment excessively by doing so. As a former school teacher, he ought to be aware of the value of learning and science and should not dismiss sound scientific warnings about climate change.

Having weighed up problems caused by air travel, I gave up flying 20 years ago. Apart from noise pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, the less publicised effect of high level water vapour from aircraft contrails is damaging – it is also a greenhouse gas.

Nearly all my holidays since have been in the UK and it isn’t the miserable place he describes. Britain has more variety in a small space than any other country on earth.

I still find more parts to discover, even in Yorkshire and the North of England where Sedbergh and the Howgill Fells was a recent delightful find. Strangely enough I’ve never

been rained off from a UK holiday.

If I waited for politicians to set a good example I’d wait a long time but we can all take our own measures. While I am not environmentally perfect, I can manage life quite well without owning a car and by avoiding air travel.

I suggest Mr Asquith-Cowen follows suit. He might even learn that Britain really is a great country in which to holiday.

He could start with a trip to the Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate. In The Mikado he will hear the lines “The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone, All centuries but this, and every country but his own”. I couldn’t put it better.

From: Jane Mitchell, Barkston Ash, North Yorkshire.

Having read the diatribe from Peter Asquith-Cowen, all I can say is that as he enjoys his many holidays away from ‘miserable Britain’ I can relax knowing there’s no risk from bumping into him whilst enjoying my own holidays in our wonderful country.

I wonder why he hasn’t considered emigrating!