Hear All Sides - Carving out a controversy

MICHELANGELO

I WISH to compliment Beresford Bowes on his excellent wood carving of Michelangelo's Mourning Woman sketch (Echo, Aug 16).

I was interested in the artist's comments that Michelangelo was noted for his portrayal of the female form and that the drawing hides it.

I stated in a letter recently that I found this very puzzling and am pleased that an artist has also noted this.

As this drawing is completely out of Michelangelo's style and I understand there is no documentation of it, I feel it is curiouser and curiouser.

Does anyone else have any comments? - M Howe, Darlington.

GARDEN THEFTS

LIKE a lot of gardeners I have become a victim of the recent surge in garden thefts.

On returning home at the weekend, we discovered our lovely hanging basket had been stolen. Now I am going to have to buy a chain and padlock to try and stop my next one being stolen. Like everything else, if it's not fastened down it goes.

Let's hope the thieving reprobates who took it get their just rewards one day. - E Longstaff, Darlington.

PLAY AREAS

I SYMPATHISE with S Burnage (HAS, Aug 13) concerning damage to their grandson's footwear and possible injury.

However, the council must have a mammoth task in maintaining play areas, parks, etc. The reason for this? Discipline going out of the window resulting in wanton vandalism by mindless idiots.

There is also the very high cost of meeting new safety standards being demanded by Brussels.

Perhaps we can all play our part by reporting incidents we see to the police and council instead of burying our heads in the sand.

This way our children may once again enjoy the facilities provided. - Maureen Brighton, Darlington.

CAT FOULING

DOG owners can be fined for letting their dogs foul the streets, also dogs must be kept on a lead.

It is time something was done about cats wandering about and fouling in people's gardens.

It is said dog dirt is a danger to children, what about cat dirt in other people's gardens where children play.

Dog dirt can be seen, cat dirt can't as they cover it with soil and a child can get it all over themselves while digging in the garden.

It is time a law was passed about cats fouling where they like and their owners should be fined. - L Henderson, Consett.

LABOUR VOTE

IT was good to see Mr and Mrs Walter Nunn celebrating 60 years of marriage and to read of Councillor Nunn's views of the 1997 election result (John North, Aug 16).

Like myself, Coun Nunn has been a lifelong supporter of Labour.

In this class-conscious country of ours it is traditional for the upper classes to vote Tory, the lower classes such as myself to vote Labour and the party which wins the vote of the middle-classes wins the selection.

Sensibly, Tony Blair decided to concentrate on the middle-class vote and won the election with a huge majority.

Did this result bring joy to the Nunn household? Quite the opposite. I will quote Coun Nunn's exact words as written in your newspaper: "It caused sadness, anger, frustration and even hatred".

How can anyone be so ambiguous as to describe himself as a Labour supporter and then be saddened by a Labour victory? This is beyond comprehension. - A Robson, Wheatley Hill.

ATS

I WAS honoured to attend as a guest the ATS annual reunion of the Ack Ack Command Royal Artillery at York. Two wonderful days were organised at Imphal Barracks. After a service at the Minster, the girls marched proudly, some with the aid of sticks and wheelchairs. What a wonderful, moving parade.

As an ex-ATS I am a member of the Women's Royal Army Association. They issue a fantastic magazine which puts members in touch with friends, reunions etc. - Jean Caines, Leicestershire.

FARMING

IT would be difficult to cram so many irresponsible inaccuracies into so short a space as Harry Mead manages to in his potted history of English farming (Echo, Aug 15).

For readers' benefit, here are just a few or the facts:

1 The wildwood disappeared and farming, both arable and livestock, appeared about 4000BC - long before the Bronze Age.

2 Between then and very recently (say the Enclosures of around 1800) there existed here a farming system of often quite amazing complexity and sophistication that very definitely did depend on working in harmony with nature.

3 The idea of medieval England as largely woodland is a myth, like much else we tend to believe about the Middle Ages.

4 Of course, farming then was all about food production - the sustainable production of wholesome food - unlike today's and to put today's undoubtedly brutal methods on the same level as those of the true farmers of old is quite inexcusable. - Tony Kelly, Crook.

HOW I agree with the items written by Harry Mead on the foot-and-mouth crisis.

It seems farm animals don't raise the emotions that dogs and cats, foxes and zoo animals do (possibly because we eat them). Animal welfare and protection organisations don't seem to want to know. Big farmers would obviously not want vaccination because there would then be no compensation. - Roy Tatman, Darlington.

CYCLEWAYS

I READ with some interest of the vast amounts of money to be spent on cycle lanes - ie £900,000 on a cycleway linking Darlington and Stockton.

Does this mean that there will be fewer cyclists using the pavements in Darlington?

Vulnerable pedestrians will be overjoyed if the answer to their question is yes. - R Elliott, Darlington.

NHS

COMPANY bosses are queuing up to make a killing out of the National Health Service. Fat cat bosses are going to milk billions from the NHS this has provoked outrage from unions and MPs.

This is exactly what privatisation is all about. So exactly how Tony Blair's partnership in building hospitals is of benefit to the NHS, or more precisely the taxpayer, is a mystery.

Already costs are spiralling out of control, but it doesn't matter now - Tony's cronies have five years to fudge the truth. No wonder city speculators are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of milking the NHS and public services of billions of pounds.

Every penny going into the coffers of these companies is money that could be spent on the NHS. - DT Murray, Coxhoe.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY

AS Conservative members receive their ballot papers for the Conservative Party leadership, I believe Iain Duncan Smith's candidature provides the best hope for the party to move forward as a united force towards future elections. Iain is a thoroughly modern 21st Century Conservative who can unite the party with his ideas for reforming the public services.

He also has the necessary credentials to draw a line under the subject of Europe and put the party on a secure footing on this crucial issue. In the 1998 party referendum, 85 per cent of members voted for the current European policy.

Ken Clarke rejects this consensus, favouring both entry into the single currency, as well as widespread EU integration. Iain's aim of preserving the best about our country and our party, but being willing to make changes for the better will provide an exciting agenda on which to fight and win the next election. - Martin Callanan, MEP Conservative, North East Region.