Letters to the Editor

In the main it is a reflection of our current lifestyle with everything being made easier and less energetic.

Also the massive increase in road vehicles is driving pedestrians off the road. Race walkers are finding it increasingly dangerous to train on the roads and race organisers have been forced to abandon the majority of point-to-point road races.

It is a credit to the enthusiastic organisers of the Bradford Walk that they have kept this race going for 99 years, and without generous sponsorship, their task might have proven impossible.

It had been 12 years since I last competed in the Bradford Walk, and this year I opted for the easier 14 miles race to Ilkley.

It was a delight to still see pockets of supporters lining the route. They are as great a part of the tradition of this race as the walkers themselves, so please keep coming.

Next year's 100th event should be a classic and I'm sure plans are already in being to make it spectacularly successful.

Bob Dobson (Ilford AC) and former GB International, Lodge Close, Lisvane, Cardiff.

SIR - Recently we at Baildon Rugby & Cricket Sports Club received our quarterly electricity account.

As from April 1 (Fool's Day) all businesses, which include a club like ours, are to pay a "climate change levy" of 0.43p on the total KWH usage.

I have estimated that, as VAT is then added, we will incur an extra cost of about £100 per annum - not a lot on our total overheads, but they must run into billions through industry as a whole.

Where is the money going and how does it benefit sporting organisations like ours?

J Howard, Chippendale, Manor Square, Otley.

SIR - Having played for Great Horton Methodists Cricket team in the 1950s, I feel I can have my say over the sale of the ground.

All the teams in the Sunday School Cricket leagues (when the concept was original) had to consist of players who attended the relevant church/chapel. Therefore, it follows that the cricket teams were inaugurated not as a community project but to give Christians the opportunity to play with and meet fellow Christians on sports grounds away from a secular surrounding.

I wonder how many times members of the current team have attended Great Horton Methodist Church in the last few years?

If Great Horton Meths need the money, then I don't see why Mr Peter Sidebottom and his cricket team cannot dip into their pockets and buy the place themselves and thus become trendsetters in community service!

P Boase, Elizabeth Street, Wyke.

SIR - Perhaps during this election campaign it may prove useful to examine the limitations of party-based democracy.

Firstly, all parties feel obliged to appeal to voters' own self-interests rather than to the common good. For example lower taxes would prove more popular while instead higher taxes may be needed to properly finance public services.

Secondly a party-based system requires different factions competing for power, and this prevents genuine co-operation as ideological differences are maintained.

Thirdly, parties in government only tend to pursue short-term popular measures due to the election cycle, while longer-term and less-popular measures may be needed.

Fourthly, a party in government is often required to compromise its own programme either due to changed circumstances or in accommodating vested interests.

The party system had developed historically from loose factions in Parliament over the last 300 years and perhaps its usefulness has ended!

What is now required is an approach based on genuine co-operation whereby policies are assessed according to need rather than ideology. This would require them to be ecologically sustainable and based on justice.

Alec Suchi, Allerton Road, Allerton.

SIR - It was of some interest to read Barbara Rudd's complaint about wheelie bin collection, as in my case the service is excellent and carried out cheerfully and with courtesy.

Indeed, earlier this week my recycling bin had not been collected on the promised day but on Tuesday a bin wagon turned up. Finding it difficult to remove because of a visiting car on my parking space, the crew actually manhandled it to the vehicle. Two men lifted it very carefully past the car.

How's that for service?

Mrs Sheila Edwards, Threshfield, Baildon.

SIR - I am trying to find an old Army friend. His name is Tony Hill, and he was from Birkenshaw. I am hoping to get together most of our training squad for a reunion.

We served in the Coldstream Guards 1957-1959.

After service in Germany we returned to Chelsea barracks, London, then later to Lydd in Kent.

I believe he married a girl from Halifax, and later moved away.

I wonder if he had any relatives in or around Bradford. I believe he may have a brother who served in the West Yorks Fire Service.

If anyone has any information, they could write to me at the address below or telephone me on (01482) 706420.

Neville Dobson, 18 Willows Avenue, The Broadway, Hull, Yorkshire, HU9 3JN.

SIR - I am student and president of the International Pen Friend Club. Many members of the club are wishing to exchange letters in English with people in England. Our circle is a non-profit-making group.

Any of your readers who would like to take part are requested to send a letter, with their name, address, age, gender, interests and hobbies, to the address below with a photograph. Membership is free (we introduce a Japanese pen friend free of charge).

We will not let people join our circle for the purpose of looking for lovers/wife/husband etc, and business.

International Pen Friend Club, c/o Kiyohisa Fukuda, 124 Nishihirajima, Okayama, 709-0633, Japan.

SIR - Many thanks to the T&A and to House of Fire for the fire and surround I won through your competition. We were actually going to buy one, so it was a lovely surprise.

Mrs Tracey Barker, Aireview Crescent, Baildon.

SIR - I am writing to express my joy and gratitude to Ronan Keating (left), who we saw at Manchester Arena last Saturday.

His show and performance was absolutely fantastic and the ticket prices were only £20.

What a shame other performers can't take a leaf out of Ronan's book! I noted that Hear'Say are playing the same venue and are charging £43 while Janet Jackson is charging £62.50p.

Well done Ronan, and thank you for a fantastic night.

Elaine Sarfield, Musgrave Grove, Eccleshill.

SIR - I am sure that many of your readers have noticed that there are more and more foreign lorries on our roads. The statistics make alarming reading.

The Government's own figures show that in the last full year before 1997, 530,000 British vehicles and 484,000 foreign vehicles crossed the channel. The most recent figures show that in the previous 12 months, these numbers had grown to 552,000 and one million respectively.

In four years the number of UK vehicles travelling to Europe has increased by four per cent but the number of foreign vehicles coming here has increased by a staggering 108 per cent.

As members of the Road Haulage Association, we share their view that this enormous increase in foreign vehicles has two causes. There is no doubt that British manufacturers are losing business to foreign competitors and that this is resulting in a great increase in imports and this will have some impact.

Of much greater concern is the enormous imbalance in the cost of fuel in the UK compared to the rest of Europe, where diesel is on average some 40 per cent cheaper than in the UK.

The impending General Election is an ideal opportunity to use democratic means to express our views. I think that the cold facts included in this letter show how important it is that politicians listen.

S Greenwood, Fred Greenwood & Son, Church Lane, Esholt.