Your letters: School holidays, rising bills, trees and Bridgnorth’s cliff railway – plus a 1972 archive image
Readers speak out on children and the school holidays, the cost of living, sentencing and overgrown trees, while another letter makes a passionate plea to protect Bridgnorth’s historic cliff railway
Keep children out of mischief
Given that the red and amber warning heatwave conditions are now the norm in the UK, I find it most disturbing that there is a social media trend circulating amongst children and young teenagers that is a “challenge” to set fire to as many things as possible.
The recent wildfires in Stourbridge and other parts of the Midlands saw multiple families lose their homes and everything in it - whole lifetimes and multiple generations of photographs, artefacts, sentimental items and memories reduced to a pile of black ash in minutes.
While many fires we have seen are accidental, I also can’t imagine how angry some of these homeowners and families must feel knowing about the dangerous online “craze” to deliberately start fires.
I blame the lack of parental supervision and six weeks away from school combined; for some of these young people, both of their parents are having to go to work full time, leaving them with little to no input from both parents; the children are starting deliberate fires, putting themselves and others at risk of burns and smoke inhalation because they are bored and lack any meaningful structure to their days away from school.
Why don’t schools stay partially open for four to five hours on weekdays in the school holidays to facilitate holiday clubs and activities sessions in a familiar, safe setting so that these young people are kept away from temptation?
Vicky Bartlett, Midlands
John’s no better than Rachel
Looks to me as if John Healey is no better at being Chancellor than Rachel from accounts was.
He promises to protect us from 'price gouging' by supermarkets - when UK has the lowest food prices in EU and probably the world (certainly lower than America).
He promises to protect motorists from unfair fuel prices, when 65 per cent of the price of every litre is taken by the government anyway. Looks to me that as usual the Labour talent pool is shallower than a puddle on a supermarket car park.
Chris Smith, Horsehay
Sentence was a real disgrace
A domestic abuser who punched his ex-partner, smashed up her belongings and threatened to send intimate images of the victim to her mother…and who had five previous convictions for six offences, has been 'spared an immediate prison sentence'.
That tells you all you need to know about the criminal 'justice' system.
Protecting women and girls, in fact protecting anyone?
Dream on.
Mike Crump, Bridgnorth
Bill shows how times change
As an example of how much things have gone up over the years, I kept an electricity bill from 1968, which was for £4-14 -11d, the quarterly charge, 12 weeks of pretty well unlimited power, as we kept an immersion heater on all the time in those days.
That was around £19 per year, and now, thanks to Ed Miliband's "green energy", our bill is nearly £2,000 – a hundred times as much as in 1968 – and we use as little electricity as possible now, no more leaving the water heater on 24/7 any more!
W F Kerswell, Picklescott
Waiting for trees to be sorted
Here we are writing again about the sycamore trees lining the Clatter Brook behind the flats in Lugg View, Presteigne, Nos 5 to 12.
There are some weeping willow and red maple which are fine, but the sycamore trees have grown so much now that residents have to switch their lights on even in daytime, and with the price of electricity now, it’s not on.
One very helpful independent councillor did try her best to help us, but it seems that she was ignored also, but we are all so very grateful for her help. The council must do something now as they have grown so tall and could be blown down in rough weather. We have had to pay for our TV dish to be moved twice in the last 12 months as they also block the TV signal. If this was Llandrindod Wells, it would have been sorted. So please, can Powys County Council finally do something and sort these sycamore trees. We have been waiting years!
L Kirkham, Presteigne
Our precious cliff railway
I see the historic cliff railway in Scarborough has closed suddenly. It is a warning shot to us here.
The Bridgnorth cliff railway, built a few years after Scarborough, is a jewel and must be protected at all costs.
Mark Pickett, Bridgnorth
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