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Letters should be sent to: The Village Voice, The Saddleworth Independent, 5 Kinders Crescent, Greenfield, Saddleworth OL3 7JQ or emailed to aimee@saddind.co.uk
We respect the privacy to use nom de plumes by request but no letters will be printed with full names and addresses being supplied to us. The Editor reserves the right to edit letters and her decision is final.
Thank you
WE HAVE lived in Delph for over 40 years and we have always tried to ‘shop local’ – although owing to the number of shops and businesses which have closed, it has not always been possible.
We would like to tell readers about the excellent service we received recently from the Saddleworth Bed Company, Diggle.
The manager came to our home to establish what were our exact requirements. He took great care to help us select the right mattress for our needs (I have back problems).
He made a second visit to our home to check that everything was ok. He was polite and courteous throughout.
Pamela and Alex Daniels, Delph (by letter)
Pots and Pans shame
I AM disgusted, sickened and outraged at the desecration of Saddleworth’s Pots and Pans memorial.
Who did this? Who are the scum who defiled this precious monument? Defiled the courage and sacrifice of our fallen.
Do you know them? Are they your children? Are they your friends? Then you must do what is right and “turn them in”. Why? Because whatever you think of them they are vile, nasty individuals who deserve to be punished.
They should be named, shamed and paraded to endure public humiliation and suffer the abuse they deserve.
I know this doesn’t fit well with the “human rights” mob. Well, the “human rights” mob don’t fit well with us. Another case for a lot more punishment and a bit less understanding. I’m certain not only many Saddleworth people share my feelings but also decent people everywhere, irrespective of religion, race, colour or creed.
This wasn’t an act of “mindless” vandalism. This was deliberate. The scum (I won’t call them people), who did this knew exactly what they were doing. They get their perverted pleasure from inflicting misery and distress on decent, caring people.
They are the scum who smash bus shelters, damage cars, fire air-gun pellets at loving pets. They are the heartless, cowardly “trolls” who infest the internet. The more tears, upset and distress they cause, the happier they are.
They deserve nothing but to be vilified and shunned by everyone. Exposed for what they are and punished for their crimes.
They must not be allowed to win. So, is there a fund we can access to urgently, yet sensitively, repair this iconic piece of Saddleworth’s history and landscape?
Failing that, can we organise a campaign to have the memorial restored and preserved for the next hundred years.
The Pots and Pans memorial was erected to recognise the sacrifice of those who gave their lives so we could be free. We owe it to them to ensure they have a memorial worthy of their courage and a fitting tribute to their memory.
Cllr. Neil Allsopp, Greenfield & Grasscroft Ward (by email)
School debate continues
In response to letter by Chris Foley in September paper
AS A resident of Dobcross, I’d like to try to explain to Chris Foley some of the reasons why I am opposed to re-siting Saddleworth School in Diggle.
It’s on environmental grounds. Firstly, wherever on the site the school is built, there will be a massive increase in traffic coming to the village. The access road to Diggle off the A670 is already congested and any provision of off-road parking or a new road to alleviate the problem would mean more land concreted over, in addition to that required for car-parking and a bus turn-around at the school itself.
Concreting over land means that instead of soaking into the ground, rainwater would drain more quickly into Diggle Brook and then into the River Tame, potentially increasing the risk of flooding downriver. Have we forgotten the flooding in Somerset last winter?
In addition, if the greenbelt fields were to be used as playing fields, they would also need to be drained or they would frequently be out of use in wet weather. This would cause even more water to be drained into the brook, and would be difficult anyway – there are continuing problems with the King George playing fields and the Churchill playing fields in Uppermill.
Secondly, most of the population of Saddleworth is located in the south and west of the parish, in Uppermill, Greenfield, Grasscroft and Springhead. It makes no sense at all to increase the length of the journey by an extra mile each way for all the children and staff living in these areas, with the amount of extra oil and diesel which would be used by cars and buses, and the pollution and greenhouse gases which would be emitted.
It may be thought that any increase in flooding risk or atmospheric pollution caused by re-siting Saddleworth School is tiny on a global or even national scale, but I strongly believe that it’s only by tackling these issues at a local level that we can make any contribution to solving the problem of climate change.
Rebuilding the school on the existing site would mean a difficult time for everyone but it’s not impossible; it’s been done before in other places.
Margaret Rawlins, Dobcross (by letter)
