ZURBURAN

I WOULD like to ask the people of Bishop Auckland, would you really lose any sleep if those 13 pictures in Auckland Castle were flogged off abroad?

I mean, aren't the local intelligentsia going right over the top with this talk about them being 'a social vision,' ' a formula for racial integration' etc, etc?

All I can see looking at them (Echo, Sept 5) are 13 repulsive-looking geezers in ridiculous get-ups.

So if the Church Commissioners can find anyone between Timbuktoo and Outer Mongolia daft enough to part with good money for them, I would say good luck and good riddance.

Anyway, looking at the Bible, I would estimate the originals lived nearly 4,000 years ago. So how come Zurburan, working in his studio in the 1640s, knew exactly what they looked like? - Tony Kelly, Crook.

I HAVE been asked by the committee of Escomb and District WI to write to support Bishop Auckland Civic Society in its objections to the Zurburan Paintings in Auckland Castle being sold.

I would like to point out that, over many years, public opinion has been proved right.

It was suggested that Escomb Church should be demolished by the then Bishop but two priests disagreed and raised enough money to restore the building (1875). It is now a parish church and visited by many thousands as a unique example of a Saxon church and a place of pilgrimage.

If these paintings are sold, we will lose an irreplaceable asset and the money will go into a bottomless pit. - Kathleen Howe, Secretary, Escomb and District WI.

I AM a Methodist, not an Anglican, so I have no axe to grind regarding the Church of England's attempts to resolve its latest cash-flow problems.

I do love art, and think it would be a tragedy if the Auckland Palace collection was lost, but I think it a bit heavy to talk in terms of 'cultural vandalism' as was reported (Echo, Sept 5).

The Church is not a museum. History means we have created and now have custody of, many beautiful buildings and works of art, but we are not here simply to provide for their upkeep. I have responsibility for several village chapels which are Grade 2 listed buildings - that means we cannot improve or modify them without permission. If we wish to close and move to a more suitable building, we cannot sell them.

This is often a very heavy burden on the local congregation, and the local authority which decides that the building should be listed does not give any help to maintain it.

Jesus was not a museum curator. We will preserve art and heritage if it can help us to do his work. Where it does not, we should not have to carry the burden. If the community wants buildings and art preserved, it must put its money where its mouth is. - Rev Tony Buglass, Pickering Methodist Church.

TOURISM

I WRITE to you as chairman of the Rothbury and Coquetdale Tourism Association, a voluntary body dedicated to promoting tourism in our part of Northumberland.

The link below refers to a map on the Northumberland County Council website which shows areas in Northumberland which have been closed to visitors due to previous and current foot-and-mouth outbreaks. It is http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/vg/fmd-map.htm

Collectively, the restricted areas amount to probably less than ten per cent of Northumberland, the other 90 per cent of Northumberland is open for business as usual.

This includes National Trust properties, hill walking, stately homes, and the activities on the Heritage Coast.

Rothbury and Coquetdale, which is in the heart of Nothumberland hill country, is completely free of foot-and-mouth and has a lot to offer the country-loving tourist.

The public is wrongly concluding that Northumberland is closed. We wish everyone to know that we are open for business as usual. - B Hewison, Rothbury and Coquetdale Tourism Association.

NORTHERN IRELAND

THE recent scenes from Ardoyne this week are the first in all my experience of the The Troubles to have kept me awake at night. I have been unable to comprehend the scenes of men attacking children, unable to shut away the distressing images of panicked faces, painted with fear, and the contorted, twisted faces of Loyalist demonstrators, spitting hatred. The last time the world was exposed to such scenes was in the 1960s as black schoolchildren were stopped from attending schools and colleges by white racists in America's southern states. From colour to religion, it is the same fundamental issue of blind hatred.

The events at Holy Cross primary school now ensure another generation in Northern Ireland will live, and die, through several more decades of fruitless violence and hopeless division.

The saddest thing of all is that, among all the political point scoring and the events of the last week, there are no winners.

There are just small, frightened children who can't go to school, who were probably lying awake at the same time as myself, wondering why? - Name and address supplied.

ANGLING

INSTEAD of animal rights activists telling us all about how they want equal rights for animals and the countryside, let's hear their programme of improvement instead of their minority rhetoric.

I've grown up on the banks of the River Wear and have fished for trout and salmon since a very young age. Anglers are, without doubt, the guardians of the waterways.

We don't just admire the countryside, we interact with it. Years of doing this enables me to understand the riverside environment and immediately spot when something is not quite right. This can be relayed to the Environment Agency so action can be taken.

Angling contributes over £3bn in the UK economy and provides thousands of jobs. What have the antis got to offer in place of this?

Like everything in life, we need a balance. For these minority groups to pick a fight with the fisherman without fully knowing the work we actually do, will be akin to the Boy Scouts squaring up to the Parachute Regiment.

The vast majority of lads who fish are from working-class backgrounds and their reaction to the antis will differ somewhat to that of the redcoats from foxhunting.

If fishing is cruel, then so is owning a cat, dog, hamster, guinea pig etc against its wishes. How barmy do you want to be? - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland.