HOSPITAL SERVICES

HAVING read much adverse publicity recently about the new University Hospital of North Durham, which replaced the old Dryburn Hospital in Durham, I would like to place on record my thanks to the staff of this hospital after my husband was admitted for an emergency operation this week.

The standard of care given him by all staff there, including doctors, nurses and reception staff was second to none.

The Durham staff have always exceeded expectations in the past and I am so pleased to report that nothing appears to have changed where it counts most.

With grateful thanks to a very caring staff. - Mary Pearce, Durham.

CRICKET TOUR

THE minute the England cricket chickens, to use an Australianism, even contemplated refusing to go to India, should have been the end of their involvement in the tour.

They should have been notified that their services were no longer required and substitutes should have been nominated. We have enough cricketers who are at least as good.

It should be considered an honour to play for one's country. If I had been selected nothing short of all out war would have stopped me going on tour.

Both our Government and India's have guaranteed, as far as possible, the safety of the players and that should be good enough for them. Shame on those who baulked at going. - K Orton, Ferryhill Station.

SISTER DORA

MAY I say thank you to Mike Amos (At Your Service, Oct 27) for his article about Sister Dora.

I was born in Walsall and, from an early age, learned all about this wonderful lady.

When I first came to North Yorkshire and visited Hauxwell, I could not understand why no one seemed to know anything about her.

I am so pleased that now there is a memorial to her in the church, more and more people will find out about her.

The market place in Walsall, where the Sister Dora statue is situated, was described as dingy. Well, I'll just say that I would not want to live there again and consider myself very privileged to be able to live in this beautiful part of the country. - Mrs Newell, Aiskew, Bedale.

ASYLUM SEEKERS

"ASYLUM seekers should be kept in special Reception Centres and not dispersed throughout the country", or words to that effect, is now the mantra from Tony Blair's Government.

I seem to remember just four short months ago, ie pre-election, that same Government shouting down the Conservative Party and accusing it of racism for suggesting just such a policy.

The word "expediency" now springs to mind whenever I think of New Labour policy making. Four months ago it was expedient to damn the Tories for a policy that most people agreed with because it was clearly better than dispersion for all concerned.

Now it is expedient to embrace that same policy because little diversions like General Elections are out of the way and we're all concerned about terrorist infiltration along with the refugees.

I can appreciate the slow evolution of so-called universal rights and wrongs as society changes over the centuries, but I have difficulty in following the rapid mutation of New Labour principles. - A Ruff, Ellingham, Northumberland.

RACING PIGEONS

YOUR article on pigeon fanciers (Northern Eco, oct 20) is one sided, biased and inaccurate.

Firstly, Mr Pickford is making claims that pigeon fanciers are the guilty culprits behind attacks on peregrine nests, this without any evidence whatsoever. Nobody doubts that peregrines have been extremely successful in regaining their numbers. One can see why he believes that pigeon fanciers can 'take the blame' for this. You see a peregrine's diet is 85 per cent racing pigeon. It is not surprising that 'fanciers are hostile' when the North West Raptor Group's website taunts fanciers with the success of the peregrine's resurgence, stating that there are now so many pairs in the area that the birds are nesting on the ground.

Mr Pickford also claims that pigeon fanciers are calling for an 80 per cent cull of peregrines. More nonsense!

The Royal Pigeon Racing Association was part of the Government's Raptor Working Group and no calls for such culling was made. However, we did agree to conduct research into the use of deterrents on our racing pigeons and a £32,000 programme, financed entirely by fanciers, has recently been completed by Lancaster University. We await the results.

The Royal Pigeon Racing Association does not condone illegal persecution of any wild bird but we cannot sit back and watch the uncontrolled population explosion of these birds of prey.

So let's get the balance right, or do we have to wait until Mr Pickford and his like let the UK be saturated with peregrines at the expense of every other bird. - PNR Bryant, Royal Pigeon Racing Association.

REPUBLICANISM

ALED Jones (HAS, Oct 27) indicates that one advantage of a republic is the democratic right to change the President at prescribed intervals via the ballot box.

I have more than once considered Republicanism here in Britain; which would mean the Crown outside of our Constitution. But now I have changed my view.

The Crown is to do with a long line of Royals, themselves bred - rather than elected - for a job. This means that no rag-tag can even dream of becoming a Royal; whereas the very same person can in fact wish to become Prime Minister - one far-off day.

In short, our Queen guarantees the ultimate in culture - at the top. Meanwhile, budding Prime Ministers don't really need to be terribly highly cultured. - AH Lister, Guisborough.