03/05/03

A recently born-again cyclist, my bicycle and I are both elderly. I have twice been thrown head-first onto a hard road surface, once backwards into a hawthorn hedge. Injuries are easily imagined, but each time I was wearing a safety helmet.

May I ask The Northern Echo to refuse to take pictures unless cyclists are wearing a safety helmet? - L Lewis, Bishop Auckland.

FOOTBALL MEMORIES

I WAS interested to read Mike Amos's article on former footballer Tommy Blenkinsopp (Echo, Apr 29).

In the early 1950s I saw Tommy Blenkinsopp play for Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park several times.

He was a half-back in the days when teams had a goalkeeper, two full-backs, three half-backs and five forwards.

During one match I remember against Tottenham Hotspur, Tommy had possession when a man in the crowd at the Holgate End called out: "Come on Blenkinsopp, pass the ball."

But another chap standing next to me disapproved of this by saying: "Leave him alone, he's looking for his man."

Middlesbrough won the match 2-1. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

RAF STATION

IN 1960 I arrived at RAF Middleton St George and after a couple of months I heard the story of the MSG ghost.

He was supposed to appear at the witching hour, of course, but during the three years I spent on the station I never met him once. Maybe he did not cotton on to Southerners.

In 1966 I was posted to RAF Topcliffe. Here we had stories of Clubfoot. He also walked or rather limped around the hangars in the witching hour. I didn't meet him either.

Three years later I was posted to RAF Wyton near Huntingdon. Here the story changes to a total bomber crew walking back along the road from St Ives after a boozy night out.

They are laughing and joking with each other and as they passed, people who claim to have seen them say the temperature lowered suddenly and if you looked in the direction they were walking they were noticeable by their absence, having vanished into thin air. They were supposed to be the crew of a World War Two bomber that did not return from a raid.

During the 23 years I served in the RAF I can never claim to have seen or heard any station ghosts, but at night at the hangar after the day's activities and as we worked on the aircraft, a lot of noises were heard. We used to put it down to the heat of the day cooling off. That is, the older members did. Some of the young troops showed apprehension but relaxed a bit when they were given an 'explanation'. Galvanised hangars were very noisy at this time. - ME Harris, Darlington.

IRAQ

IT saddens me that your correspondent Bernard McCormick (HAS, Apr 26) continues to defend the method of war as a means of achieving peace and justice.

He asks me what I would say to the gassed Kurds. I ask him what he would say to the Iraqi civilians, men, woman and children who were maimed and destroyed both in the Gulf war of 1991 and in the latest war and what will he say to the innocents destroyed in the next war planned by Mr Bush?

Has he got no answer other than war as a means of settling international disputes? If not, he ought to be asking himself why he is a member of the Christian Church. - Rev John Stephenson, East Herrington.

IT was rather hurtful to hear so many Iraqis shouting for British and American troops to leave their country. Whatever one's feelings about the war, it was fought and the people of Iraq were freed from the oppression of a terrible dictator.

They clearly had no ability to get rid of him themselves and now they are turning on the troops who did the job for them.

Let us hope that all our troops and those from the US are brought home very soon. Let the people of Iraq sort themselves out by themselves. Let those who sought refuge from Saddam's regime in Britain and elsewhere go back and re-build their homeland. It is now theirs. Millions of pounds have been poured into the war. Time to call a halt before more Iraqis turn and bite the hands that have freed them. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

REGIONAL IDENTITY

IT'S all very well the Newcastle-Gateshead Initiative saying the North-East has cast off its cloth caps and whippets image (Echo, Apr 25).

But where am I going to keep the coal if I have to take it out of the bath? - Robin Ashby, Gosforth.

COUNCILLORS' ALLOWANCES

Councillor Stephens (HAS, Apr 17) fails to grasp the general thrust of my letter of April 7. What I pointed out in my letter was that the recommended increases in councillors' allowances highlighted, once again, that we in Durham had far too many councils and far too many councillors.

The fact that borough councillors' allowances will remain as they are until October next year is accepted.

This is probably due to the fact that, for example, Coun Stephens received an increase of around 90 per cent when the Cabinet system was introduced.

Coun Stephens does, however, appear to concede that there is a trough and that snouts are in that trough. He is wrong to assume, however, that because I sought to be elected to the borough council I also sought to have my snout in that trough. There are those in local government who do not seek to serve while at the same time ensuring that they milk the system for every penny they can secure.

My reference to snouts in the trough is, as Coun Stephens suggests, an interesting one. I arrived at that statement having read, and returned several times to, Orwell's Animal Farm.

Perhaps I should conclude on that point. - Brian Gibson, Socialist Labour Party, Ferryhill.