20/01/06

It does look good on paper - at last the pensioners are being recognised - but the restrictions this free bus pass place on the pensioners are very many.

We are dictated to by Whitehall. We have to travel only at certain times. This places restrictions on many of us who do voluntary work and work early or late.

Why have we not been given the option of either half-fare passes or, as in my case, the full pass which gives me the freedom I enjoy to live as I wish and not be told what to do? No-one has been approached for their views.

I would rather see a large increase in my state pension in April if the Government has money to spare. - Maureen Stephenson, Darlington.

EXCITING TIMES

The period of time following a General Election is normally quite dull and quiet, but how different things look in early 2006.

First, Mr Blair announces he will not be in post by the time of the next election, thereby making certain that a new leader of both the Labour Party and the country will be required.

Then the Conservatives choose a new leader, Mr Cameron, who for some reason thinks that WH Smiths is a chain of greengrocers.

Next in line come the Liberal Democrats who called last orders on Mr Kennedy. While all this was going on one of our better known Members of Parliament decided to become incarcerated in the Celebrity Big Brother household.

To maintain this level of excitement we really need a sighting of Lord Lucan riding Shergar down Stockton High Street. - Martin Birtle, Billingham.

SECONDHAND SMOKE

I AM writing from Action on Smoking and Health, where I have been following press coverage and local debate about smokefree legislation.

I have noticed that there are some misconceptions about the effectiveness of ventilation equipment in removing smoky air in pubs.

Many people are under the impression that ventilation machines remove smoky air and replace it with fresh air. This is not the case. Ventilation machines act as a filter. While the machines do remove the visible elements of smoke, the cancer-causing particulates in tobacco smoke which are too small to be seen by the human eye are also too small to be trapped by the filter. This means that the most dangerous components of tobacco smoke are not removed but just recirculated.

Ventilation machines can make the atmosphere seem more comfortable. However, this is not about comfort, it is a matter of health and safety. Secondhand smoke kills more British workers than all other industrial accidents combined. It has been suggested that better ventilation can solve this problem.

However, when the Health Select Committee, a cross-party group of MPs who examine legislation dealing with health matters, investigated whether or not ventilation was an effective means of dealing with the problem of secondhand smoke, they found that "according to most scientific opinion, while ventilation can make the atmosphere seem more pleasant, it cannot remove the carcinogens.

"Ventilation offers cosmetic improvements but does not represent a sufficient response to the health and safety risks."

Secondhand smoke kills. No-one should be forced to breathe in another person's smoke. - Kate Alley, Media Co-ordinator, Action on Smoking and Health.

DAY CLUB SUCCESS

IT WAS heartening to see the report and picture (Echo, Jan 16) of the successful opening of the Teesdale Day Club in the community centre for the elderly people of Evenwood.

It will make a welcome addition to the well patronised Light Lunch facility every other Tuesday and the Thursday morning Coffee Shop.

These are run by members of the Evenwood Cornerstone Christian Centre (former Methodist Church) and have been much appreciated, especially by the elderly over the past five years or so.

Other activities include Kidsalive on Monday evenings and First Steps parent and toddler group on Friday mornings.

More information on these worthwhile activities is available from Joan Kay on (01388) 833776. - Helen Smith, Evenwood.

HARDSHIP

I WONDER if many readers realise the consequences of the removal of the widows' and widowers' pension in April 2001.

For many of us this has resulted in great hardship.

Frankly, I am not impressed by the hypocritical antics of the present Government.

It says women and carers need more help, but actually it takes that help away.

In my case, the relatively small amount of money to which I was once entitled made all the difference to my life.

I have worked hard all my life and paid my taxes. Now when I need a little help it has been cruelly removed. - Julie Pidd, Durham.

BILL BARRON

AS EVER Mike Amos is on the ball with his article on cricketer and footballer Bill Barron (Echo, Jan 19), who sadly died on January 2.

From my schooldays in the 1930s I remember Bill playing for Philadelphia, Durham County, then Northants. He was a sporting hero in his native Herrington where everyone knew him as Jammer Barron.

At this same time another young Phili batsman, Jimmy Beresford, was taken on by Warwickshire. Both lads did very well for their clubs.

During this period my brother Wesley Weightman skippered Phili, later the county and was president until his death in 1986.

In an earlier period Philadelphia had a wicket keeper who was possibly the best in the country, Kellett Kirtley. It was a privilege to hear these memories from him at first hand.

My brother and his family held Kellett Kirtley in high regard. He was employed at their Silksworth Hall Farm until his death at a great age. He lies in St Leonard's Churchyard, Silksworth. - Bill Weightman, Richmond.

OPENCASTING

The thorny issue of opencasting raises more than environmental or climatic concerns. Stoney Heap in County Durham is a prime example.

Born there in 1938, I spent my childhood in the community then known as Happyland which was completely eradicated by 1950 and the colliery closed.

My memory of Happyland is of wild and beautiful woods and fell. Nearby Brooms Dene was a haven for more wild birds and creatures than I have ever seen since. Sadly, it became a landfill site and is gone forever.

The woods of Happyland were cleared in the 1940s and the fell ploughed up just prior to the village being destroyed.

Now even the last traces of what was quite a large community and a beautiful place are about to be wiped completely from the map, replaced no doubt by blocks of Scandinavian weed trees set in a weird, unnatural green landscape, as is the usual practice.

The point I make is that in my short lifetime dramatic changes are stealthily taking place and not for the better by any account.

This degeneration continuing apace is a dismal prospect indeed - but then again it's money that counts. - Colin Dent, Croxdale.