Tuesday's Letters: Green and pleasant land has been overgrazed

Sadly, I am compelled to agree with that particular statement, but

prefer to examine some root causes of this obvious loss of pride.

For a nation to feel pride, there has to be a sense of self-worth and achievement among its people. Its people need to feel as though they belong to a society to which they can usefully contribute, benefit themselves as well as others and share common values and interests. A nation is held together by preservation of its traditions, cultural tastes, its common language and strong, fair governance for the benefit of its citizens. It needs financial security and plentiful employment prospects to inspire confidence among its citizens and provide hope for the future.

Perhaps national pride has diminished because many traditional values and pillars of social stability have been eroded. We are undoubtedly experiencing the worst recession for decades and witnessing rising levels of unemployment.

People who lose their jobs and struggle to obtain subsequent employment often feel unproductive, unwanted and, ultimately, lose the spirit of hope, not just for themselves, but for the nation as a whole.

The continual closure of manufacturing bases, post offices, small shops/businesses, public houses, working men's clubs and bingo halls leads to impoverishment and alienation of individuals and groups of people. All these meeting places and employment-providers are casualties of a crumbling traditional way of life. Furthermore, in 2008, an influential House of Lords committee concluded that record levels of immigration have had "little or no impact" on the economic well-being of Britons.

This suggests that Mr Barker's views on immigration are, to say the least, somewhat rose-coloured. He fails to take into account the unsettling effects of a large scale of immigration over a relatively short period of time. The grass may have been greener in our pleasant land over the past few decades, but much of that has now been either paved over or its pastures have been overgrazed.

From: Mrs Jennifer Hunter, Farfield Avenue, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

Give the boot to gutless Government

From: R Hanson, Swallow Lane, Golcar, Huddersfield.

DESPITE all the huffing and puffing about banks not being allowed to pay their "top men" excessive bonuses, the Government has approved RBS's payments to these people (Yorkshire Post, February 26) because they have swallowed the bank's mantra that otherwise these men would leave and this would jeopardise the chance of the taxpayer getting any money back.

Who would employ them after they have presided over such losses that they have is anyone's guess? It is time their bluff was called.

Meanwhile, because pensioners have no power to damage the economy, the Government has taken them on by not increasing the serps part of pensions, meaning that hundred of thousands of pensioners who rely on state pension plus serps for their income have seen their real income drop quite considerably. In my case I have had a 1.2 per cent rise.

As I believe that the next year's pension is based on the November inflation figure of the previous year and this was 1.5 per cent, it is a drop using their own rules as regards my total income, and inflation in January this year was 3.4 per cent.

If only for this reason it is time to give the present gutless and immoral Government the boot, and it would help to do this if the pensioners who have been affected make sure that they do not vote Labour, if only in spite.

Memories of a great boxer

From: Mike Appleyard, Hill Rise, Market Weighton, York.

YOUR picture of Bruce Woodcock in "From The Archive" (Yorkshire Post, February 24) brought back so many memories of more innocent times, when, as nobut a lad, I would listen enthralled to the "big fight" commentaries on the "wireless".

On April 16, 1947, he fought the American Joe Baksi, who beat the British heavyweight champion in seven rounds, "flooring" him several times. Woodcock went off to hospital after the fight, and was found to have suffered a broken jaw.

In those far off days, a journey to Europe was by sea, therefore before his set-to with Woodcock, and to make his journey worthwhile, Baksi demolished the British light heavyweight champion, Freddie Mills, in six rounds. Freddie's eyebrows damaged very easily and, of course, the American concentrated on the vulnerable areas of his face, which Dad would say was not very sporting, or words to that effect.

My memories are of the radio commentaries, by Raymond Glendenning, with inter-round summaries by W Barrington Dalby, names which I can still recall quite clearly, although I often can't remember what I did yesterday. We would sit enthralled listening to the commentaries, as the British, who were always best, of course, took on the world. Unfortunately, as in the case of heavyweight boxing, they usually came off second best!

Keep the pictures coming.

Shout for real change

From: Allan Simmonds, Columbus Ravine, Scarborough.

BRITAIN needs manufacturing to survive. Yet, already, we have the hostile takeover of Cadbury by Kraft whose first announcement was of a plant closure, all financed by RBS, a British bank. Now Corus has closed the huge steel plant at Teesside. All our politicians are like rabbits caught in the headlights and a General Election will make no difference. What we need is a complete change in the mindset of our leaders, both political and financial.

We have a million young people without a job or training, and what is the burning issue of the day – whether Gordon Brown shouts at his staff! I would be worried if he didn't. I believe it is time a lot more of us started shouting for real change.

Allure of the lighthouse

From: Barry Atkinson, Carr Hall Gardens, The Carrs, Ruswarp, Whitby.

TO a long exiled Hullensian, what a delightful article by Alexandra Wood on Paull Lighthouse (Yorkshire Post, February 24).

The rather short dumpy lighthouse always had a nice comfortable feel.

Long forgotten memories flood back. In 1957, as part of preparation for a walking holiday in the Austrian Tyrol, a friend and I walked from the long defunct youth hostel at Holmpton along the Humber shoreline to Paull and caught a bus near the lighthouse back home to East Hull.

Not an easy walk and possibly unique as the said youth hostel closed soon after, but good training for the mountains of the Tyrol.

Paull always had a distinct character of its own and although only a stone's throw from the vast Saltend petrochemical complex, it still retained that special and separate feel.

Aristocrats who led the way on path to reform

From: Sir Thomas Ingilby, Ripley Castle.

STEVE Piper (Yorkshire Post, February 26) should become more closely acquainted with the background to "the great Reform Act" of 1832 before accusing your newspaper of rewriting history.

His contention that "the only thing the aristocracy ever represented was themselves. Every Parliamentary Reform Bill in the 19th century they stubbornly opposed" is clearly erroneous when the architects of the Reform Act of 1832 were the Prime Minister Charles, 2nd Earl Grey,

Charles James Fox and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Grey came from a long-established and Northumbrian landowning family who lived at Howick Hall. He was educated at Eton. Fox was the son of the 1st Baron Holland and was also educated at Eton. Sheridan, the playwright and MP, came from a well-to-do Dublin family and was educated at Harrow.

Their reforms were strongly supported by the then Prince of Wales, and, coincidentally, by the now legendary Duchess of Devonshire, who

actively and openly campaigned for them.

Another supporter was the local landowner and Whig MP for Lindsey, Sir William Amcotts Ingleby: his grateful constituents presented him with a large china jug emblazoned "William Ingleby – Reform" out of

appreciation for his impassioned representation of their cause: it's still proudly on display at Ripley Castle today.

Mr Piper should also note that slavery was also abolished under Earl

Grey's premiership.

Other landowners opposed the Bill's progress but never let it be said that the aristocracy only ever thought of their own interests and

opposed reform.

Cold comfort from council

From: Andrew Suter, Beckett Close, Nawton.

AS a long suffering council tax payer in North Yorkshire, I was cheered reading North Yorkshire County Council's newsletter that the council tax will increase by 2.94 per cent, and we should all be very thankful. The fact that the majority of residents have had no increase in salary or pensions does not seem to come in to the equation.

Further, the council points out it would have been even lower – but we have had snow and frost this winter and the roads have started to fall to bits and the public fully know it. Whose intelligence are they trying to insult? There has been a systematic failure to maintain the roads throughout the last 10 years.

Give us mayors and freedom

From: Edwin Schirn, Victoria Grove, Ilkley.

GEOFF Lawler writes "What Britain will expect of Cameron" (Yorkshire Post, February 27). I know what I expect: freedom from a whole range of pettifogging laws brought in by this present Government to prey upon us all.

Give us the directly elected mayors that David Cameron promised us. Oblige them to spell out their plans at election time. Give them the power to hire and fire the top council employees.

Give them the power to hire and fire their own progress chasers to get things done. Oblige them to report to the electors every quarter how much of their election-time plans have actually been carried out.

That would be worth voting for.

Off the rails

From: Steve Piper, Hayton Wood View, Aberford, Leeds.

WITH regard to your editorial "Smoke signals" (Yorkshire Post, February 27), the story of the Government's plans to buy a new fleet of Inter City trains is a long and complex one.

However, each "set" of the proposed fleet was going to cost around 30m. This compares with around 12m had they gone for an off-the-peg

design of UK or European manufacture. Value for money? I don't think so.

Bag man

From: D Birch, Smithy Lane, Cookridge, Leeds.

HOW can Sir Bernard Ingham describe the Government as "arrogant Labour" (Yorkshire Post, February 24) with his record and antics looking after the Iron Lady?.

Did he never get clobbered with the handbag?