Letters September 9: Cyclists who do not realise the dangers

LETTERS regarding cycling crop up quite frequently, so having experienced both sides of this war on the paths and give two examples.

The Pedestrian: My wife and I were walking on the path along the side of a main road when we suddenly heard a commotion behind, we turned to see four cyclists in their 30s trying to push their way through. I suggested it would be far better if they cycled on the road, we were then subjected to a tirade of abuse. The experience was frightening because of the aggressive and threatening attitude of the cyclists.

The Cyclist: In my youth I was a keen cyclist that lead to an experience I shall never forget. It happened when cycling on a busy main road in Leeds that was particularly crowded with pedestrians that day. I wasn’t racing but moving quite fast, when suddenly a woman rushed on to the road right into my path. She was looking the other way and didn’t hear me coming. Unfortunately, the woman suffered two broken legs, a broken arm and ribs. She was admitted into intensive care and nearly died.

So there you have it – a cyclist who almost killed a fellow human. It was just like living a nightmare. I don’t believe cyclists realise the damage they can do, especially to children and senior citizens. I believe that cyclists have become a law unto themselves and, yes, they will do exactly what they wish, I have spoken to the police and the council who do nothing.

Free market’s chaotic route

From: Keith Sturdy, Grimbald Road, Knaresborough.

MOST of your readers will remember, I’m sure with affection, the West Yorkshire Road Car Company, whose headquarters were in Harrogate, which had routes from places such as Keighley to the east coast.

This giant was killed off in the 1980s, or so I thought, by Margaret Thatcher. However, recently, it would appear that the giant was only sleeping for the past 30 years or so. Harrogate & District Travel claim that they have been serving the people of Harrogate since 1906 and have printed this on their buses, and on their website which includes 60 or so years of the WYRCC.

Their main rival in Harrogate Connexions Travel who run green-coloured buses, have recently obtained a red bus which has “West Yorkshire” on the side and also the former National Bus Company logo on the roof. Confusion enough you would assume. However, a trip to Otley Bus Station this weekend only added to this confusion. On my arrival, I was met with the sight of a red double decker bus with the 1980s gold lettering with West Yorkshire on the side. My first thought was that Connexions which also run buses in Otley had bought another red bus. I examined the bus further and saw it was a number 84 which was owned by First Leeds.

Can someone answer me the question which one of the above companies own or have the right to the West Yorkshire logo, and who is trying to confuse who?

From: M Wright, Harrogate.

I READ with approval and amusement, Sir Bernard Ingham’s eruption on the “unacceptable facets of today’s capitalism” (The Yorkshire Post, September 2). Labour and Tory governments have never seriously got a grip on this; but dare I remind him of the one who set it all in train?

Who dismissed, contemptuously, that rabid lefty Harold MacMillan’s warning about “selling off the family silver”?

Who not only released the brakes, but totally dismantled them?

Who subjected the vast non-shareholding majority of us to the predations of faceless suits, intoxicated by a well-founded sense of untouchability? And who endlessly sings her saintly praises?

Too much of festive spirit

From: Jim Johnson, Beaconsfield Street, Acomb, York.

I READ with some dismay the article (The Yorkshire Post, August 29) of the “Purple Man” of York, the street artist who sits statue-like astride his bike, being attacked by drunken pranksters.

I later learnt that York City Council are rearranging the stalls on Parliament Street to accommodate a tent to sell alcohol over Christmas. To do this the stall holders must move and one has to go completely

Yes, you guessed it, the Victorian carousel that brings joy and cheer to children is the one to go. In an area amply served by pubs, bars and cafés, do we really need this extra Christmas spirit?

Nigh on poetry in motion...

From: Edward Grainger, Botany Way, Nunthorpe, North Yorkshire.

RICHARD Harrison rightly praises the bowling action of Fred Trueman (The Yorkshire Post, August 29). On one of Fred’s many visits to Acklam Park, Middlesbrough, I once asked Fred which bowler he thought had the perfect action delivery.

“Well not me lad,” said Fred. “I’d have to say my England bowling partner Brian Statham. It is nigh on poetry in motion.”

In later years when I watched Sir Richard Hadlee, the great New Zealander often reminded me of Statham; smooth, highly economic on the run through to the wicket and just as accurate 
to the batsman, as Statham nearly always was, and difficult to score off.