Letters: Lodge appeal

It is long realised that the future success of our Lodge will depend on attempting to attract younger members from within the town of Northallerton and district. To help maintain a high Lodge profile, the members of the Ned North Lodge feel there is a need to demonstrate a commitment to help and support projects locally.

Each week at their meetings our members contribute towards several projects and all proceeds go to local causes, at the end of each year the Lodge decides on merit which local cause needs our help. This in no way detracts from the wider support that the Lodge gives to any other charity appeal.

In the past we have been able to support the Great Ormond Street Hospital, local school projects, Heart Foundation, Nursery schools to name but a few. This year it was brought to our attention that the Yorkshire Air Ambulance needed financial assistance result being we raised £3,100 to help keep this service on seven day call, surely a wonderful effort by all concerned, since the average membership of the Lodge is only twelve per meeting.

We need new members, the RAOB hold Lodge meetings, usually weekly, at local level in many countries throughout the world. A non-political fraternity, we encourage members to live responsibly and in a spirit of friendliness within the bounds of socially acceptable behaviour. We are not a secret society and are willing to share our philosophy with interested like-minded people and will discuss with you when you contact us, or, we can give you a free copy of the introduction to Buffaloism.

TED LEWIS

The Green

Romanby

Flanders fields

Sir, - Pilgramage to Flanders and the Somme 2004 marks the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.

A number of ceremonies are taking place in Flanders and the Somme, and I will be leading a pilgrimage by coach from North Yorkshire to visit the battlefields and war graves in Flanders, Loos, Arras and the Somme between October 27 and 31.

I will be happy to arrange a visit to any particular site or war grave. We will visit places sites associated with the Rev T B Hardy (the vicar of Hutton Roof who was awarded the Victoria Cross), the war poets Owen and Sassoon, the Somme trenches where the Pals' battalions from the North of England perished, and the site where Baron von Richthofen was shot down.

We still have a few places available and if your readers wish to have further information, they should contact me at Nethergill, Great Asby, Appleby CA16 5EX, or telephone me on 01768 353941.

DAVID RAW

Nethergill,

Great Asby,

Appleby.

Fair swap?

Sir, - I would like to ask what the world has come to? In your edition published last week, there was mention of a 33-year-old person who had been to court for stealing a woman's purse.

The penalty in court was almost justifiable at a £70 fine with £70 costs but I would like to raise the question of whether the lady in question was happy with her compensation of £15.

There was no mention of this having been a violent theft but that is irrelevant. The fact is this woman had what is probably one of the most personal and private possessions stolen from her.

I wonder what she thought of her pathetic compensation, and whether she feels a whole lot better for having been reimbursed only the amount that was taken from her.

Personally, I believe the fine etc was adequate, but he should also have received a dozen lashes of the birch to remind him not to do it again!

STEPHEN WEBBER

Park Lane,

Middleham.

Still no seat

Sir, - Doesn't time fly? Over a year has passed since I received a letter from Stokesley Parish Council (dated August 27, 2003) thanking me for reminding them about the "missing seat" on West Green, Stokesley - it had been virtually demolished by a runaway car around the beginning of 2003, although I am not sure of the date, but it was a long time ago.

This letter assured me that the matter had been "put in hand" and would be replaced with a refurbished seat.

This was evidently not quite correct, as when the matter was discussed at a council meeting (in response to a letter I sent them on January 24, 2004, as reported in the D&S Times dated February 20), Coun Kay said that it "had been removed for repair ... would be collected and repaired".

That was over six months ago. The seat, which was mainly an amenity for people waiting for buses, has yet to reappear. How much longer does Stokesley Parish Council need to do something so simple?

J M SCOTT

46 West Green,

Stokesley.

See for yourself

Sir, - I find it pitiful that so many advocates of a ban on hunting rely on so-called evidence of others to promote their causes.

V L Lonsdale (D&S, Sept 3) is a case in point. Living in the heart of a splendid hunting country (the Bedale), V L Lonsdale uses tales from a distant hunt country in an attempt to denigrate the whole sport.

"The most compelling evidence"? Nonsense! It is plain to see for yourself and less than a mile from where you live.

CHRISTOPHER CURTIS

Field House,

Carthorpe,

Bedale.

Sir, - Following recent correspondence, I feel I must mention that the League against Cruel Sports has a deer sanctuary in Somerset of some 250 acres. A recent survey showed that, of the 350 deer therein in a 12-month period, 107 had died of starvation and appalling neglect. Quote: "They are listless, barely able to get up when people approach. The state in which they are kept is cruel."

Their keeper who asked for money to feed them was told to mind his own business.

It would seem that their main raison d'etre would be to raise money to give to a socialist party which knows nothing about farming or the countryside.

DAVID CRUMMACK

Sinnington,

York.