MICHELANGELO

I HAVE followed with interest The Northern Echo's reporting of the Michelangelo sketch of a woman, which was discovered at Castle Howard.

In my humble opinion, Michelangelo's ability to pose the human form was his hallmark, and all Madonnas I have seen show faces, necks, arms and feet.

Also, in many of his sketches the human form appears through the draperies.

I am puzzled as to what work of art did he have in mind when he sketched this grieving woman whose heavy clothing envelopes her bodily form.

Can anyone enlighten me please? - M Howe, Darlington.

Saltburn PIER

AFTER the recent publicity on the refurbishment of Saltburn Pier, my family and I decided to pay it a visit.

I would like to congratulate all the public bodies that have been involved and to say how wonderful that it was seen fit to preserve some of our heritage.

The quality of the materials used was of the highest order as was the standard of the work carried out. It will probably still be intact in 500 years' time.

I telephoned Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council this morning to compliment them on the project, but at the same time, commented that the public toilets would have been helpful if they had been open.

I was told that vandalism of recent times requires that they be repaired and that they would be available shortly.

Added to this, I was informed that a new watersports centre was to be constructed on the site which would include all the modern facilities. It seems that Saltburn is becoming the watersports centre of the future. All I can say is - brilliant. - J P Lassey, Bagby, Thirsk.

REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

IN her article (Echo, Jul 10) Joyce Quinn MP used as an example the devolved Scottish and Welsh assemblies to support her debate for a North-East Regional Assembly.

She omitted to say that these assemblies failed to save jobs in the car and shipbuilding industries in Scotland and the steel industry in Wales.

To understand the present North-East economic predicament, we have to return to the 1830s. Then we had three rivers and a number of small private industries servicing a mainly agricultural economy.

The development of natural resources and new technology created a rapid increase in population which increased in propriety mainly through an integrated rail system.

Today, the industries and rail system which brought their success have gone but the descendants of those who worked in them remain.

If the Britain of the future is to be for "the many and not the few" and democracy about "choices", then people should not be trapped in backwood localities because of lack of transport.

New Labour often talks about inward investment so it is time to pioneer a new North-East Railway for the 21st Century and allow the skills of the people to spread across the region instead of isolated areas. - Thomas Conlon, Spennymoor.

THE BBC

THE appointment a non-Christian as head of religious broadcasting (Echo, Jul 12) seems a very strange move by the BBC. It could be likened to making an animal-hater the manager of a zoo or having someone who dislikes children as a school teacher.

Mr Alan Bookbinder describes himself as an "open-hearted" agnostic. Time will tell whether he succeeds in providing a good service for believers when he himself has no faith or belief. - EA Moralee, Billingham.

ROBIN HOOD

IT has taken two academics, who undoubtedly spent a lot of money researching the story of Robin Hood (Echo, Jul 16) to basically confirm what I was told at school about 60 years ago - at little cost - that he was a fictional character. - E Harris, Darlington.

LIFE AFTER DEATH

READING the letters on Life After Death (HAS, Jul 6 and 14) I was saddened by the closed-minded opinions of both writers.

One thinks you can only survive death by following one man, namely Jesus, and the other's perspective is "when you're dead you're dead". Unfortunately, these are the mind-sets that have created the societies we have today.

To understand life with all its complexities, one has to stand back from the human mind and understand the greater picture of life, for there is no beginning and no ending, only a changing of realities.

This physical reality being only one of them but what about the reality of the spirit and the soul? These latter two realities are much greater than the physical one and they do not acknowledge man-made religions, or any of the negative perspectives of the human mind or physical condition of the body taken on for one short lifetime that is not even a blink of an eye in the terms of eternity.

When the human mind opens to its own inner reality it begins to be spiritually enlightened. Sadly, for those with a closed mind to their own inner kingdom and without spiritually open eyes to see and ears to hear, there is nothing but the physical reality for them.

Unfortunately, in one short letter one cannot cover any of the truths involved - that takes much time and effort on the part of the individual. - B Tingate, Darlington.

Weardale

I SYMPATHISE with the people of Weardale (Echo, Jul 16) and their problems of lost and late deliveries of goods and parcels, but what can they expect with such strange place names?

The Eastgate of what, the Westgate of where? A chapel is a place of worship not a complete village. Dad's dry shield is a complete mystery to me.

If the residents of Beckindale can change the name of their village to Emmerdale in honour of Annie's farm in Yorkshire, why not something similar in County Durham?

Sheep's Head, Daffodil Dale or Tulip Town would fit in with some of the other place names. Chapel could become Peartville.

Something for the villagers to mull over during the forthcoming long, hard winter - they do get their frost early in Weardale! - B Wade, Darlington.

DATE RAPE

I WAS concerned to see that your article "Date rape drug on increase" (Echo, Jul 6) which referred to "the date rape drug Rohypnol".

Roche is always disturbed to hear of media reports alleging that one of our prescription medicines may have been inappropriately used or abused. We produce high-quality medicines for legitimate needs and it is alarming that, from time to time, these legitimate medicines are reported to be used by criminals.

Roche supports any measures taken to encourage individuals to be on their guard against criminal activities. However, medical experts, as well as the police, have advised us that the issue of violent crime concerning drugs is complex and multi-faceted, and involves a number of different substances.

This view was supported by a Metropolitan Police report published in June last year entitled Drug Assisted Sexual Assault. That found that "Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) has not been detected in any suspected drug rape samples submitted to the Forensic Sciences Service".

Furthermore, the report commented that focus on Rohypnol has resulted in this medicine being falsely associated with drug-assisted sexual assault. Some complainants actually assume that the medicine has been used on them, whereas this may not have been the case. As a consequence, individuals who believe that they have been drug-assisted sexually assaulted can assume that they could not have been attacked in this way if Rohypnol has not been present.

Roche has taken a number of steps to make it more difficult to misuse Rohypnol, including changing the shape, colour and markings of the tablet to deter potential abusers looking for Rohypnol.

Roche believes that these moves will help to protect the quality of life of legitimate patients who need this product, and at the same time help safeguard those who might be at risk from misuse. - Ruth Blakey, Corpora te Affairs Executive, Roche Products Ltd.

BACKBENCHERS

AT last the Commons has woken up to its traditional responsibility of defending the nation against tyrants. They stood between us and overbearing kings for centuries and are no less needed now when we have a Prime Minister who is as autocratic and paranoid as any Tudor or Stuart monarch.

Well done, the backbenchers for standing against this Government of control freaks and spin. - Raymond M Kelly, Chester-le-Street.