Your letters…
Keep ticket offices open
Sir, — In March this year, the Government’s carbon budget delivery plan was published, which shows that alongside road fleet electrification, a 20 per cent reduction in road traffic levels is needed by 2030 to meet their decarbonisation targets.
Although rail usage is gradually creeping back to pre-pandemic levels, the shift is less towards commuting for work and more towards leisure travel.
The leisure traveller is more likely to have longer, more complex journeys — the type of which ticket machines are unable to give advice regarding the best routes or fares available.
Surely the price of retaining station booking offices is a small one if the Government is serious in wanting to encourage the use of public transport to fulfil its own promises?
It is all well and good for some to cite the lack of booking offices not being a problem on urban transport systems but they, unlike the national network, are relatively small self-contained entities with a limited range of ticket types. — Yours faithfully,
Simon Haynes
Watcombe Road, Watlington
Damaging the river
Last week while enjoying the scene at Marsh Lock, I was appalled to see a “gardener” casually throwing all of his weeds and garden debris straight into the river between the two lock gates.
Questioning the man he said “it is biodegradable, what else can we do?” Has he not heard of composting or bagging it up for the tip?
Recently you published photographs of folk clearing such debris from the river (Standard, July 7).
Moments after seeing this happening, we came across a lady swimming in the river, unaware that she was about to get struck in the face, or even worse, dangerously tangled up in a raft of weeds.
Singlehandedly this lazy man is endangering wildlife, people, boat propellers etc, not to mention making our lovely river unsightly.
Surely a rivers authority or the Environment Agency should put a stop to this practice? The man obviously thought it was quite acceptable to do this, the inference being anyone with a river frontage could just throw their garden refuse into the river. —Yours faithfully,
Penny Noble
Kingwood
Let’s try not having bins
Dear Sir, —I was interested to read the item in your paper about how to deal with litter (Standard, July 14).
It sounds as if bigger is better but unfortunately this is not necessarily the case.
My experience, walking round Henley, is that litter bins seem to generate litter.
Let me give you some examples. There used to be a bin near the Horse Bridge at the bottom of Mill Lane. It was regularly surrounded by litter.
I was surprised one day to see that this bin had gone but not surprised to see that so had the litter.
My walk to collect the Saturday paper from the “Top Shops” in Greys Road is often spoilt by a carpet of litter around the bin on the corner of Wootten Road. Presumably people dump food there and this encourages animals to pull the litter out of the bin, while trying to get to the food.
My walk to town takes me past Trinity School. Especially after the weekend, these bins are full and happily spreading litter around. Why not remove the bins and so remove the litter?
Many years ago my friend, Don Gresswell, was approached by Bucks County Council about how to deal with litter dumped in the lay-bys along the A 40.
He suggested removing the litter bins and replacing them with a polite notice asking people to take their litter home. Your readers won’t be surprised to hear that this solved the problem.
Perhaps we could try an experiment. In one part of Henley provide some larger bins while in another replace the bins with a polite request to take your litter home and find out which system works best. — Yours faithfully,
Andrew Hawkins
Berkshire Road, Henley
Prepare for the future
Sir, — Henley is known far and wide for the royal regatta, the river and the various festivals the town is host to. Soon it could become famous for another reason.
Have you ever wondered about the driving force behind the construction of so many nursing and care facilities being built or planned in the Henley neighbourhood?
Soon the road from Henley to Reading via Shiplake and Caversham will be known as Elderly Alley.
Clearly demand creates supply which is satisfied by the profitability of the commercial activities known as care of the elderly.
What is driving this demand? There are three principal drivers:
Firstly, the aging population: we are all living longer, hurray for that, secondly there is more funding being pumped into the sector, whether from government or private sources, and thirdly, the decline in the all embracing family, where elderly folk are not just turfed out of their homes, but are dumped in the nearest care home. After all who wants a tiresome oldie messing up their busy lives?
So what can a potential inmate make of all this?
Most importantly, choose a good solicitor. One in whom you have complete trust.
One who will always put your wellbeing as the prime motivator, and will not be influenced by convenience or financial factors. Remember any financial commitments they enter are with your money not theirs.
It is always easier to spend someone else’s money.
Beware of any charges quoted. While the initial price may be about £1,300-plus per week the actual amount payable with add-ons could be nearer £2,000-plus per week or a heart-rending £100,000 per annum. Little wonder that care homes are a boom commercial business.
Many residents will be facing, not the happy future of the brochures but, having paid over their liquid funds, sold their house, penury, at the mercy of social services. — Yours faithfully,
W A Fitzhugh
Caversham
Lasting love from above
Your readers might be interested to learn of a rather extraordinary moment in the skies over Henley this week.
At noon on Thursday last week the coffin-borne body of Alex Reynolds was being lowered into the ground at the natural burial ground at Rotherfield Greys.
Alex was a psychotherapist and NHS mental health professional specialising in the care of vulnerable adults with complex emotional needs. He died in June aged just 31.
As his father, I well remember Alex sitting on his grandfather’s knee as a child being taken through the pre-flight routine of a Spitfire Mark IV then taking off on a sortie.
Hamish Selkirk flew 143 operational sorties in the Second World War and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
My father firmly believed that the human body was a chrysalis-like shell from which the spirit was released into the skies and set free on death.
At the precise moment that Alex entered his grave, the unmistakable sound of a Merlin engine disrupted the tranquil air of the immediate surrounds and a solo Spitfire flew overhead, shortly followed by four more in close formation.
Having checked with the RAF, this was indeed the Battle of Britain memorial flight on its way to RAF Fairford for the Air Tattoo there.
You could not make such a thing up, and some present reflected on the notion that Grampa had come to help the spirit of his grandson take off into the skies above. — Yours faithfully,
Christopher Selkirk
Llanbedr, Denbighshire
We’d be lost without you
Sir, — The community around Station Road in Henley would be lost without Station News.
The shop stocks almost everything you could need, it’s family run and the those who shop there are part of the family as well.
The shop will deliver to those who are unable to get out, will trust you if you don’t have quite enough money to pay for your shopping, “pay next time you come in”, you are told.
Following another break in (Standard, July 7), please try to get a get a security camera installed not only for the shop but also for the residents in the areas for peace of mind.
We might not be in central Henley but we are still part of the town.
One other point — a 20mph sign by Hobbs of Henley would help our limited peace by stopping motorbikes and fast cars treating the road to the traffic lights as a race track when it is clear. — Yours faithfully,
Amanda Waspe
Station Road, Henley
Insensitive headline
Sir, — I was saddened to read your insensitive headline regarding the inquest report on the sudden death of an innocent man, Kam Hulait (Standard, June 30).
He was respected and loved by many.
Your headline has added to the immeasurable grief and pain that the Hulait family are suffering.
It can only be hoped that the family’s appeal two years after his death (Standard, July 14) will result in the perpetrator finally being brought to justice, giving the family peace and closure. — Yours faithfully,
S Pegg
Periam Close, Henley
Wonderful performance
Sir, — On Monday evening I enjoyed the most thrilling entertainment and witnessed the most thrilling death-defying skills and clever clowning at Giffords Circus at Stonor Park.
The performance kept the audience laughing and excited the young with their tumbling acrobats and music.
What a wonderful summer evening, starting with the scene of beautifully painted caravans and a great bell tent.
The performance was arranged with great skill and creativity and kept the audience enthralled, which consisted of elderly people, young children, teenagers and the middle aged and kept us all spellbound, gasping, smiling and laughing.
Everyone loved it and gave a standing ovation to these wonderful performers and then everyone entered the circus ring to dance with them to the great music provided by the circus band.
The performance entitled L’enfants de Paradis was wonderful and such a change from being bored to death on television with yet another murder mystery.
To entertain all ages together so brilliantly is a step forward in our society. — Yours faithfully,
Odette Moss
Harpsden
We live in paradise
Editor, — I once asked a young couple who lived high up in the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa, one of the most beautiful places on earth, “When you live in paradise where do you go for a holiday?”
In the coming weeks we shall be witnessing the annual chaos of Brits trying to get to Mediterranean beaches to barbecue themselves under the scorching sun.
At the same time, we are welcoming visitors from all over the world who come to enjoy these magnificent British Isles.
We are the fortunate isles with magnificent scenery, a rich history and culture but we fail to appreciate that we indeed live in paradise.
Meanwhile, at Wimbledon on Friday, July 7, I watched one of the finest games to be played on the centre court.
Andy Murray produced his full range of skills and determination against an equally talented Tsitsipas.
The spectators rose to the occasion and the atmosphere was very emotional as towards the end it seemed that Andy may well be playing his last singles match at this level.
In his autobiography Coming of Age he writes that Kipling is wrong and you cannot treat triumph and disaster as exactly the same for he didn’t like losing.
Andy lost the match, but he can take pride in that he had put up a valiant fight and laid bare his heart and soul. — Yours faithfully,
Douglas Wright
Lowfield Green, Caversham