COW PLANTATION

I USED regularly to take my children into the Cow Plantation at Spennymoor, locally known as the Top Wood. It was a lovely way to spend an hour or two, the children loved to see the different butterflies and pick the odd flower.

We do not go to the wood now as the flowers and butterflies have gone, to be replaced by mud and manure. Since the horses arrived, the wood has change beyond recognition.

Councillor Joan Wood says this piece of land is for everyone, the state it is in she can keep it. I wish the wood had been left how it was before Councillor Wood tried to make it better. In my opinion and that of my friends, who have also stopped going into the wood, the council has ruined what was a beautiful place. I used to walk through the wood two or three times a week and the paths were perfectly all right until Councillor Wood thought she could improve them. I wish people would stop trying to fix things that are not broken. - E Bolton, Spennymoor.

HAUNTINGS

I AM a firm believer in the spirit world and I would like to write about hauntings with Hallowe'en coming up soon.

Broken Scar on the outskirts of Darlington has many ghoulish stores to its name with sightings of mysterious figures walking around its often moonlit terrain during the dark of the night.

Raby Castle, near Staindrop, has become home to unexplained ghastly screams, which over the years have made the bravest of men flee with horror from its acres of land.

Finally, the last haunting I would like to tell your readers about is Darlington FC's recent performance at Cardiff City. The worst nightmare I have ever had, with ghostly figures unable to scare the Welshmen's defence. - Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

HOME

THE term housewife is a misconception. They change houses into homes and are homewives, and there is not enough money in the world for paying them for what they do.

Of course, their reward is to make a place comfortable for their families and the satisfaction that the family will return to their place of abode.

One can imagine what that lady would feel like if her husband had chosen the carpets, curtains, wallpaper etc. If the roles with the husbands were to be swapped, would the same amount of satisfaction be there when he had completed a motorway, a bridge and launched a ship. No way.

Men can and do look after houses, but are far inferior to women. There are many widowers and bachelors who live alone and there are men caring for disabled wives who cope, but to transform a house into a home is a gift which only women seem to have the talent for. The place where mum brought you up is heaven, never to be forgotten and cannot ever be put in monetary terms as it is one of those things that money can never buy. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

DARLINGTON FC

AT the end of the last football season we were told the increases in admission prices at Feethams, Darlington, would provide far better players. While the prices went up, what happened to the latter?

We now have a generally inferior side to that which produced so much optimism, resulting in 10,000 Darlo fans travelling to Wembley when we should have won promotion earlier.

The departure of David Hodgson a couple of weeks before the season started left Gary Bennett and Jim Montgomery in a horrible position. They had little time and no funds to choose their own players. How difficult it must be to try and sign players mid-season, without playing transfer fees or signing-on fees.

Unless the players respond, Gary and Jim will face increasing criticism from the fans. Perhaps this year's policy of increasing prices against losing 2,000-3,000 fans per week is still considered worthwhile. Many of us do not agree. - David Thompson, Darlington.

RAILWAYS

I WOULD like to reply to Mr Craig of Northallerton (HAS, Oct 24) in which he asks if men still walk the tracks and check for damage.

The answer is yes. However, not so long ago the "gangs" (approx six men) used to patrol five miles of track, now it is 20-25 miles of track. If there were not so many chiefs in the office telling the Indians what to do then I believe that the track patrol would be back down to five miles.

I also think people should stop complaining about the trains not running in Scotland. I am sure that if there were to be a accident people would shout a lot more. Track maintenance must be carried out but at what cost? Stopping the trains for essential repairs or repairs after de-railment. - J May, Sedgefield.

FLIGHT SAFETY

I FAIL to see how the airline companies are allowed to sell "at risk" economy class seats when it is known to them that such seats could possibly cause a blood clot to develop, giving injury or death.

If any procedure was known in any other business it would have been withdrawn.

It makes me very angry that a young, healthy girl has lost her life to "Economy Class Syndrome."

Why, oh why do they get away with it? Cramped seating should be scrapped completely and travellers should be advised to walk or exercise their legs at frequent intervals, when the emergency procedure demonstration on all flights is performed. - Shirley Fenwick, Darlington.