Letters to the Editor

SIR, - With regard to the Bolling Road/Springs Lane road safety improvements, and as a resident of the central portion of Bolling Road, which suffers the fastest traffic, I have been interested to read the report (Gazette, April 3) of the Keighley Area Panel meeting of March 26 and subsequent comment.

One issue remains unanswered, and that is the reasons for the Keighley Area Panel's decision to reduce traffic calming measures to the two ends of the road and not to do work to the central section at present.

The Gazette report of April 3 mentions one criterion on which the decision was made, that of residents' objections. Other criteria may have been discussed but they are not mentioned in the report.

My question to the councillors is where did the other obvious criteria of finances and, more importantly, the accident record of the central section of the road, feature in coming to a decision on the comparison of the original scheme and the two new options put before the panel.

Did the Gazette only partially report on the debate, missing out important issues, or did the councillors' debate not take into account the accident record of the different parts of the road?

DAVID BLACKBURN

Bolling Road,

Ilkley.

Cosmic escape

SIR, - If you ask an impossible question, it ought to be impossible to give an answer.

But in fantasy, anything is possible, so if the universe is infinite in time and space, what is it like?

The is problem number one. There is nothing like it, so how can it be described? Can chaos get tired of being chaotic and settle down? The answer must be 'yes' if it has infinite time to let its tensions pull forever.

But if we are looking for a form of equilibrium, there is a problem, because when gravity wins, it gets stronger and stronger. We should end up with a universe that is empty, except for an infinite ball of matter.

Even from our limited human observation, this has not happened.

There has to be a mechanism that works in the opposite way. That could be what is happening in that little speck of the universe that we can see. Matter has accumulated above the stable amount and it has exploded into galaxies and radiation.

This must be a very rare happening. Most of the time, in most of the universe, nothing will happen. Even radiation will have settled down into the rightly so--called background radiation corresponding to nearly zero temperature.

My guess would be that matter is almost never hot or even warm. Over infinite eons of time, it will exist in black holes formed from dead galaxies. In due course that is where our whole galaxy will end.

Will our intelligence be able to find a way for the human race to escape from this cosmic mincing machine?

WILLIAM BOOCOCK

17 Wheatley Lane,

Ilkley.

Fire concern

SIR, - Reading through the Ilkley Gazette of April 17, I could not help noticing the number of stories concerning the outbreak of fires in the area.

Rather worrying, several of these appear to have been started deliberately.

Only the law can deal with acts of arson. However, people can take reasonable steps to prevent accidental fires. Obviously, caution should be exercised when walking on tinder dry moorlands.

Finally, I urge all readers to ensure that they are protected against fire risk by taking out proper fire insurance.

LEOPOLD HARRIS

Holly Cottage,

Langbar Road,

Ilkley.

Blood pressure

SIR, - I would like to commend your newspaper for covering the local initiative to raise awareness of the importance of high blood pressure checks and the offer of free blood pressure checks..

High blood pressure is serious. The thousands of people each year who suffer a stroke or heart attack as a result of high blood pressure will testify to that, but the good news is that it can be treated and sometimes prevented.

At the Blood Pressure Association we are dedicated to improving the lives of people with high blood pressure and helping those who have a healthy blood pressure to keep it that way.

I'm sure your readers would be interested to know that taking steps to lower blood pressure now could prevent high blood pressure in the future. The BPA provides free information to the public on simple changes everyone can make to help lower the risk of a stroke or heart attack.

The first step is to find out your blood pressure. Through the BPA's ongoing 'Know Your Numbers! campaign, we are determined that everyone will know their blood pressure numbers - just as they know their height and weight.

And if your readers missed the opportunity to get their blood pressure checked, they have a second chance during our third annual blood pressure testing week, which runs from September 15-21. This annual event has seen more than 140,000 people tested - many of them for the first time. High blood pressure is important and ignoring it could be fatal. The message is simple: Know Your Numbers!. It could save your life.

Readers who would like more information about high blood pressure or our national blood pressure testing week, can contact the BPA at the address below, or see our web site www.bpasssoc.ore.uk.

Prof GRAHAM MacGREGOR

Chairman,

Prof of Cardiovascular Medicine,

Blood Pressure Association,

60 Cranmer Terrace,

London SW17 0QS.

Learners' Week

SIR, - Your readers might like to know about a week of free and fun learning activities coming up in May. From May 10 to 16, it's Adult Learners' Week and a great chance for families and friends, people who want to find a new hobby or change their career, to go along to a local centre to find out what's going on.

If you want to learn a few sentences of Spanish or French for the summer holidays, or get to grips with a computer so that you can keep up with your child's homework, or brush up on your English or maths, Adult Learners' Week is for you.

You can find the listing of events at the website www.alw.org.uk and click on to 'online calendar of local events'. Or, if you don't have a computer, from the beginning of May you can call a free helpline on 0800 100 900 and ask for details of Adult Learners' Week events near you.

FRANCISCA MARTINEZ

Campaigns Officer,

National Institute of Adult

Continuing Education,

21De Montford Street,

Leicester LE1 7GE.

War optimism

SIR, - Readers who had their doubts about Britain going to war without full-hearted support from the UN and the EU might like to consider the following news items.

They have all been drawn from US newspapers, like the Wall Street Journal, which support Mr George W Bush. With a more than a hint of triumph it has been announced that:

l A US oil executive has been selected to run the Iraqi oil industry as a new corporation - he's been selected by Mr Bush .

l A US grain exporter has been selected to co-ordinate Iraqi agriculture - he's been selected by Mr Bush.

l A retired US general, a known supporter of the Israeli Government, has been selected to create a new civil administration - he's been selected by Mr Bush.

l Iraqi exiles are to act as advisers to the general and his staff - that is, those who are approved by Mr Bush

l Four sites for permanent US bases in Iraq have already been selected - by Mr Bush

l A US broadcasting station (the sole station now operating in the country) is headed by a US team - personally selected by Mr Bush.

Victory indeed! The US has certainly succeeded in its aim of ousting one dictator. However, immense power over the Iraqi people continues to be exerted by one man.

And, with such precedents, what are the real chances of a 'freely elected' government in Iraq? Was this the 'liberation' that the Iraqi people were promised and we were assured?

Was this the 'liberation' that British troops fought for? These are the questions that we should be putting to Mr Blair.

And, we should be mindful, when asking these questions that the Government's own 'optimistic' assumptions on which the conflict was based, as voiced by the Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, on March 24, in answer to a Parliamentary question were that 'military action will be short with very limited casualties and that the regime will crumble quickly, the Oil for Food programme will be quickly reinstated, UN authority put in place to install an Iraqi Government and the international community work together to support the Iraqi people in reconstructing their country'.

A case of misplaced and misguided optimism? Wishes for Peace,

Ilkley Peace Group

Name and address supplied.

Tee hee!

SIR, - I have recently spoken to Alex Salmon, chief executive of the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), who is already finding it difficult to allot enough time to golf to stop his own six handicap from lapsing.

I read he is also struggling to find a way to work out when a man can be considered a woman; thus enabling the man to play in women's golf competitions, which would also enable the LGU to comply with the EU Directive on Human Rights.

I have compiled a possible scale below to assist him and LGU Committee to come to swift decisions and award candidates points according to their achievements:

1. He leaves the toilet seat down.

2. He asks if his bum looks big in 'these trousers'.

3.He doesn't notice the topless girls on the beach.

4. He knows how many calories you burn off ironing.

5. He relinquishes control of the TV remote.

6. And the clincher - he is familiar with the golfing term which describes a tee shot from the men's tee that is so poor that it does not even reach the ladies' tea.

Did I hear someone say many men play like old women anyway?! So what's all the fuss about?

LINDA BURROWS

Addingham

The chicken or the egg query

SIR, - What comes first, 190 million chickens or an egg?

Easter has come and gone, and we have chomped our way through £320 million worth of boxed chocolate Easter eggs. Great though chocolate is, did you know that that much cash could instead buy an astounding 190 million chickens for poor families in the developing world?

These chickens could produce 47.5 billion eggs a year to eat, to sell and to hatch and grow more chickens!

Across the UK, 80 per cent of us buy chocolate at Easter but, in the space of a whole year, only around 67 per cent of people in the UK will give to charity.

OK, so chocolate's fun, but so is charity if you buy from World Vision's alternative gift catalogue. Rather than just dropping money in a collection tin, the catalogue lets you buy a life-changing gift 'present' for family or friends of ten chickens that can then be sent to a family in Uganda or Honduras for only £17. More than 300 million Cadbury's crme eggs are produced - and presumably consumed - each year. We spend more than £100 million just buying these. Easter is a good time to think of people less fortunate across the world and give them the means to have eggs all year round to feed their families.

For these families a chicken will give them eggs for life, not just for Easter.

See World Vision's gift catalogue online at www.great-gifts.org or by calling 0845 075 7574. Help crack poverty.

Andrea Stephens

World Vision UK

599 Avebury Boulevard,

Milton Keynes .