YP Letters: Our modern society has made world a more lonely place

A RECENT programme on BBC Radio 4 dealt with the problem of loneliness and isolation, in an interview a woman made a very telling comment in that she never took photos because she had no one to show them to.

She lived in the rural area of Gloucestershire, but wherever you live the problem is the same, empty shops, banks, post offices, pubs, libraries and reductions in public transport.

These service reductions isolate people, particularly the elderly; loneliness leads to poor health, a lack of activity to keep them busy and after eight years of austerity a lack of cash to spend.

According to Age UK, half a million people over the age of 60 spend every day alone. Online shopping and the growth of town retail outlets with ample free parking may suit some people but its to the detriment of the high street who are struggling with high rising rents and reduced sales, with a real sense of a lack of community spirit, and a world that supports the individual rather than the collective.

Oh, oh Jeremy Corbyn...

From: Brian Johnston, Rigton Drive, Burmantofts.

They chant ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’ every time he appears – but do these mainly middle-class millennials know the real Mr Corbyn, as the rest of us despair with incredulity? Young Corbynites care not, and ignore his past which travels before him. To them, he is fresh, authentic and most of all the ‘man of peace’. Yet his inability to state openly his true beliefs somehow bypasses them.

It is a truism to say, one can always tell a person by the company he keeps and the company Corbyn has kept speaks volumes. Sometimes in the search for peace it may be necessary to mix with the unsavoury to start a dialogue.

But Corbyn’s peace process is always one-sided. He appears more than happy to side with any group – even terrorists – who hate the West; Cuba, Venezuela, Hamas, Hezbollah, the IRA. What Corbyn never does is meet the other side.

Impressed by town’s trams

From: John Gilleghan, Selby Road, Leeds.

Having spent a week on a river cruise based on Bordeaux, I was more than a little impressed with their tram system. This opened in 2003/2004 with three lines serving the city centre and the outskirts of this city of over a million people, the sixth largest in France.

The trams were introduced as a result of increasing traffic causing gridlock in the city.

The length of lines using three separate routes amounts to 41 miles having 116 stops each with a display of times and destinations. There are 15 park and rides on the outskirts supplementing the bus routes.

The tickets are obtained at machines at a cost of 1.60 euros and are valid for an hour. (6.70 euros for a book of 10 and a day pass costs 4.60 euros).

I used the trams to see the city centre in a short time. The system is a huge success and it is once again a pleasure to wander around a historic city.

Trump woes

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

My thanks to Brian Sheridan for expressing my own sentiments on Donald Trump; but in language eminently fit to print! (The Yorkshire Post, August 31).

In less than 12 months, could it be that we might find ourselves subjected to something on the following lines: “But of course Mister President, whatever you say. Please don’t tell the Brexiteers; they think this ‘sovereignty’ thing is all theirs”?

Undermined

From: Arthur Quarmby, Mill Moor Road, Meltham

I REMEMBER the news about coal extraction on the Wentworth Woodhouse estate just after the war (The Yorkshire Post, September 3).

The mining was being deliberately extended right under the house, so that it could never again be re-occupied.

I hope that the members of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust have taken this into their calculations as they prepare a detailed masterplan for its restoration.

Rave rage

From: Nicholas Binns, Derby Road, Wirksworth.

Having just travelled from Leeds/Bradford on Jet2, we were subjected to loud rave music the whole time. Is it any wonder that after airport delays where there is nothing to do but drink, that people get on board thinking that the party is continuing and violence ensues?

Shellfish fight

From: P.L. Taylor, Lockwood, Huddersfield.

In regards to the scallop fishing debate (The Yorkshire Post, September 1), it is legal for our fishermen to fish in that area, which is in international waters. Our Royal Navy should be involved in protecting our fishermen from intimidation. Theresa May should initiate some form of positive action as a matter of urgency before the crisis intensifies.

Wrong place

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

As usual, the photograph on the back page of Monday’s The Yorkshire Post, in this case on September 3, is excellent. The back page photographs on Mondays always brighten the week! However, the foreground is Heptonstall, with its church tower, not Mytholmroyd, as in the description below the photograph.