Thanks for great work

with poppy appealOn behalf of the Keighley branch of the Royal British Legion, I cannot thank enough everyone who helped in any way with our poppy appeal.

All the cadets and volunteers who were out selling poppies over the fortnight did a magnificent job and at Sunday’s parade helping our less mobile members lay wreaths.

They then went on to serve the meals in the Drill Hall.

Keighley should be proud that the young and older people do get on and work together.

The turnout at Sunday’s parade was really wonderful.

The team which managed the shop did a superb job helping our poppy appeal organiser Gordon Shaw.

It is an honour for me to work with such dedicated people.

Albert Joyner did a magnificent job selling in the centre with his various helpers.

Although it is early days, we feel we have equalled or even beaten the amount the appeal raised last year.

BRIAN HUDSON

Chairman, Keighley Royal British Legion

Why was the flag not flying on town hall?

This morning, along with many others, I attended the two minutes silence in Town Hall Square, Keighley.

There was not a Union Flag flying on the Town Hall, in spite of a ruling some years ago that the Union Flag would fly permanently on all town halls in the Bradford district.

There were no flags on the shopping centre or on the three flagpoles on the Yorkshire Bank building.

Keighley Town Council did fly its flags in the Town Hall Square.

Perhaps this might be remedied in time for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next June.

Desmond Jackson

Thwaites Brow, Keighley

Rules clear but drivers still try to avoid paying

Further to the recent letter regarding the Changegate Car Park, in Haworth, once again we have another example of the truth being adjusted.

The writer did not give any indication of when this incident took place or what vehicle he was in. I have, however, checked the last three weeks and firstly there is not one case where the vehicle is just on or over the line. All three vehicles are well into another bay.

As to the bully-boy tactic, that is a load of rubbish and Carstoppers are prepared to let the Keighley News see recordings for the last three months. Yes, everything on the car park involving wheel clamping is fully recorded, both in sound and vision, and there is not ONE example of bully-boy tactics.

There are plenty of examples of the public acting somewhat aggrieved and aggressive and I can understand that.

Not only that but the car is photographed from eight different positions and again there is not one example of a vehicle being a little over the line.

For the man to state that there are no warning signs, the one at the entrance is five feet by four, or thereabouts, and if he cannot see that he should not be driving. When he bought his ticket he must have read the warnings but chose to ignore them. The rules are very simple but people still try and avoid paying.

E R Evans

Changegate Car Park, Haworth

Tips on how to stop car being clamped

After yet again reading another “Letter of the week” that is slating the Haworth car park which is owned by Mr Ted Evans, I would just like to offer some tips on how to avoid getting fined or clamped.

I park in the car park on average two or three times a week and have done so for the past five years or so and have never yet been clamped, want to know why? Because every time I park there I always make sure I park my car within the bays and I always make sure I buy a ticket (and display it) that is sufficient for the time I require there. It must be just me who feels absolute frustration and anger when visiting small tourist towns with limited parking to find that some moron has not bothered to take the time to correctly park his car in just one space and would rather just dump it across two bays without a thought for anyone else.

On each occasion I visit this car park, I have my three children and my partner, who has the disability of being partially sighted, so as you can imagine, things tend to take longer to do than they do for most able-bodied families, so I’m afraid I have no sympathy for anyone who was “only five minutes late”.

If you take a look around the country at what most tourist spots are charging to park, you will find Mr Evans’s hourly charges are more than fair, so if you think that either your activities or your disability may cause you to take longer than you think, then do as I do, pay a little more for a longer stay.

Martin Holmes

Ingrow, Keighley

Sorrow and congratulations over fireworks

I am sorry if the person who contacted the Keighley News over the firework display was upset at the proximity to a grave of a firework being set off.

This event has brought people from the community together with members of St John’s for a number of years now and has given lots of pleasure.

Surely, giving children the opportunity to attend an organised display in a peaceful way is to be applauded.

The members are always mindful of the place it is held and try to cause the minimum interference to the graves around.

The bonfire, fireworks and refreshments were at a very reasonable cost and many showed their appreciation of this.

I for one congratulate them on their efforts.

They worked tirelessly on the day from morning to night and gave pleasure to around 250 people.

As a closing remark, I, unlike the person who contacted the Keighley News, am prepared to put my name to this letter.

D Miller

Keighley

Why complain to newspaper?

I am sorry the complainant felt so strongly that graves were being disrespected at the bonfire event in the churchyard, feeling as they did, why didn’t they complain on the night instead of anonymously to the Keighley News.

As Mr Kirke stated, we try to reach out to the people living in the neighbourhood and indeed the parish as a whole, we hold various events during the year for everyone, young or old, to enjoy.

We have held a bonfire in the churchyard for the last four years and this is the first complaint we have had.

May I suggest the horrified anonymous visitor makes a few more visits to St John’s churchyard and sees the disrespect shown to the graves on a daily basis, many people use the churchyard as a shortcut or to walk their dogs, some of them use the churchyard as a rubbish dump, litter, graffiti, beer cans and bottles smashed and thrown about, dog fouling, this is what I consider to be disgraceful and disrespectful.

The vicar setting fireworks off on a piece of broken stone is not in my opinion.

Audrey Waite

Broomhill Avenue, Keighley