YP Letters: Roadworks leave trail of potholes

REgarding recent letters about the state of the region’s roads and how speed humps damage cars, is it really surprising that our roads are crumbling and full of potholes when almost everywhere you go they are being torn up and then finished off in a sub-standard manner?

If you took at a wooden floor that was rotten and you kept doing botched repairs on it, after so long the floor would start to sag and eventually collapse when any pressure was applied.

A shoddy finish with any job generally creates problems later on. The edges of the repairs are exposed to the elements, and when the bad weather arrives, the potholes start to appear.

Today’s roadworks have become tomorrow’s potholes.

When the Tour de France arrived some years ago, there were not too many potholes to be found. If a near perfect surface can be produced for special events like that, isn’t the everyday motorist entitled to drive on one, given the fortunes collected in taxes?

I will never be convinced that all roadworks in place are necessary. Some of them are, I believe, moneyspinners for the council. Speed humps and speed cushions do little other than damage cars.

Show’s poor relation

From: David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.

THE Great Yorkshire Show begins in about three weeks time. It is the best country show in the UK and the show director, Charles Mills, has done, and is doing, a very good job as CEO.

Whenever the Great Yorkshire gets a mention, most of the appropriate subjects are given publicity. Sadly, year after year, the farm machinery section gets little or no publicity – why?

It is such an important section of the UK farming world and is a big contributor to our countryside looking so good. The trade stands pay very big fees to rent their space, so surely they deserve a mention?

I spent most of my working life selling farm machinery from 1964 until about 2006 and during all that time we were “the poor relation”. I keep hoping that one day this will alter.

Customer is not your pal

From: Karl Sheridan, Old Lea, Holme upon Spalding Moor.

IS it my imagination but are retail businesses becoming over-familiar with their clients?

Having been in the retail sector most of my working life – I’m now retired – it was always expected that you were respectful.

Admittedly I worked in the motor trade, nevertheless, respect in addressing your customer was always paramount. However, just lately, service providers and retail companies seem to have adopted the initiative of calling us by our Christian names on correspondence and on emails.

I have already taken Tesco to task over this overfamiliarity – not that they care – but having ordered something online from Wilko for the first time, their welcoming email begins “Hello Karl, Welcome to Wilko, we are so pleased you popped by!”

Arguably these businesses are adopting a ‘let’s all be pals’ approach, but frankly I am not their pal: I do not know them from Adam. I’m not on first name terms with any of them; in fact the relationship is one that they provide a service and as their customer I expect a degree of respect i.e. ‘Sir’, or ‘Mr Sheridan’.

Once again we are seeing old world values and manners rapidly disappearing.

First job for factory

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

IN less than inspirational times, it was reassuring to read of the new Siemens Mobility plant in Goole, providing 700 direct jobs and 1,700 indirect ones (The Yorkshire Post, June 16).

Their first contract is a £1.5bn deal to build 94 Tube trains for London. With a rearrangement of priorities by Chris Grayling and co, could they not cut their teeth with a more modest electric tram fleet for a diesel bus-choked major European city, just a few miles up the road?

World Cup axes Ascot

From: Peter Horton, Ripon.

TELEVISION schedules for this week show that even the coverage of Royal Ascot has been slashed by the intrusion of the new religion of football.

In previous years Ascot has merited coverage every afternoon, but not this year. Why? Because World Cup matches take over, just like football hooligans barging everybody else out of the way.

Appreciating that the new religion is a very lucrative sport, this is no justification for ruining the pleasure of those who follow a different sport. The obsession of the media with a few men kicking a ball about really does need curbing.

Title for life

From: Elliot T Wilson, Flasgrave Road, Scarborough.

IN your Words of the Week section (The Yorkshire Post, June 16), you have a quote from “ex-president” George HW Bush. To my knowledge a president of the the United States is, upon inauguration, granted the title of president in perpetuity.

Therefore he can never be “ex” but merely a president who is no longer in office.