Your letters

THE Malvern Town Council concert in the park by the Worcestershire Youth Jazz Orchestra was excellent and well received by a large audience across all the age ranges in a delightful setting with great weather.

And with no entrance fee! The cost was paid by the town council It just shows there is much to do if you search it out in Malvern – let alone a going for walk on the hills and commons.

Every now and then there is a “moaning” headline.

It should be noted that the very good results obtained at local schools, both academically and vocationally, means that some time has to be devoted to study by young people – just as the quality of this orchestra showed.

I have said before that the moaners of Malvern should occasionally take a coach trip to an industrial town in the Midlands. This might remind them why so many people aspire to live in this area and enjoy the wide range it has to offer.

The choice is yours in a free and tolerant society.

Cllr Paul Tuthill Worcestershire county councillor

Costly welcome

WHILE Worcestershire County Council considers cutting its Supporting People budget by nearly £9 million, the NHS urges GPs not to refer patients to county hospitals and more than 1,000 are declared homeless in Worcester – “Malvern Welcomes Syrian Refugees”.

There is uproar for the council to “resettle” 20 per cent of the Government’s national quota of refugees in Malvern – as many as Glasgow or Sheffield!

How this “welcome” is to be funded, for how much and how long, no one will say, nor does it seem to matter in the headlong rush to “do something”.

The Government’s national figure has now risen from 300 to 20,000, and who believes it will stop at that? As it stands the likelihood is even bigger cuts to local services or rises in council tax. Dissent may be disparaged as “bigoted”, but it does not need a degree in economics to foresee the impact on already collapsing public services and more hardship within our own community, whether so-called “spongers” or otherwise.

Anthony Skelsey Malvern

Take a hard look

I AM flattered to see a response to my letter (September 4) from Anthony Skelsey.   It is impressive that he has kept a copy of my letter of 18 months ago in which I said: “People elected to the council are there to serve the local public”.

That seems to me to be a truism which obviously has nothing to do with Syrian refugees, so full marks to Anthony for keeping it to hand.

To say I heap “obloquy” (and here, I’m embarrassed to say, I had to look it up in the dictionary, it means a “strong public condemnation” so that saves everyone else looking it up!) “on the mild defence of Worcestershire County and Malvern Hills District Councils members” is quite bizarre.

I made no mention in my letter (of September 4) of any council decision or position.

I made the point to which Mr Skelsey wrote a bigoted, and somewhat ill-informed reply. So why he believes I should explain “how both councils’ prudent reluctance to buy into this is not serving the local public” is completely beyond me.  It’s interesting to note that Mr Skelsey failed to respond to any of the points I raised in my criticism of his letter, so I am somewhat confused as to what his point is.

The subject of Mr Skelsey’s original letter and my response has really been about Syrian refugees.

After the pictures of a drowned toddler rolling in the surf, anyone who believes that we shouldn’t help some of these families needs to take a deep hard look at themselves and thank whatever God they pray to that it wasn’t them in that position and it wasn’t their child.

Haydn Edwards Malvern

Aid for Amnesty

THE 15th Art for Amnesty Exhibition has again been a success, so on behalf of Amnesty Malvern Hills Group, I am pleased to report that £1,366 was raised for Amnesty International, the organisation that campaigns against torture and for human rights across the world.

We are so grateful to the Quakers of Malvern who once again generously allowed the use of the Friends Meeting house for the 10 days of the exhibition and for all the volunteers who acted as stewards for the event.

Thanks to all the artists, craftspeople and volunteers who gave their skill and time, the Amnesty team and the professional mounting of the artists’ work submitted to the exhibition.

We really appreciate the help and dedication that Malvern Amnesty received.

Barbara Struggles Amnesty Malvern Hills Group

Queen’s email

I READ with interest your supplement Her Majesty (September 11).

My attention was drawn to your first entry entitled”Technophile” on the page highlighting aspects of her reign.

You correctly report that in 1976 the Queen was the first monarch to send an electronic message (email). Some of your readers may not be aware that this email was sent from Malvern, when she visited the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) to formally endorse the name change from Royal Radar Establishment (RRE).

In an attempt to preserve such knowledge, alongside many other examples of the proud history of technology development in or influenced by Malvern, the Malvern Radar And Technology History Society (MRATHS) was formed.

We aim to capture, maintain and promulgate information and artefacts relating to the history and heritage of the sites located in the Malvern area which conducted research and development in support of the armed forces. We hold meetings every two months or so and attend events where we can share both this history and also some of the culture and anecdotes of the place.

For further information, or if you wish to join MRATHS, visit our website: http://mraths.org.uk.

David Whitaker Malvern

Look out, ducks!

I REFER to the joint venture of Malvern Hills District Council and Malvern Theatres who are presenting Jaws – Shark in the Park on September 27.

On behalf of all the ducks and their small offspring in the park, I think this feature is wholly inappropriate and may lead to long-term psychological damage to our feathered friends.

Mike Fenton Malvern

Bring back halts

IN 1936 there was a need to build an auxiliary to the local railway system through Worcester, for transporting workers to the factories built along the tracks by using small stations or halts. This was a very efficient and cheap service, Invaluable in time of floods and snow. but with the advance of car ownership it became redundant.

Now is a good time to reverse the trend. With such high car costs, the resurrection of this rail halt system could be a winner.

A lot of the tracks and system are still in place but the platforms are long gone.

The three extra highways in and out of Worcester would wipe out traffic problems almost overnight. Using the revived interest in the new parkway station to finance this long-term investment would encourage the rail authorities to include the venture in their Norton station project, the addition of a halt platform adjacent to the university and a bridge similar to the one across the Butts linking the railway to the top of the new sports centre in Hylton road would link the universities to the entire rail system.

Can you Picture the system in use in the future and the benefits it promises, linking Hereford, Ledbury, Malvern, Kays new estates into Worcester centre, Blackpole, Fernhill Heath, Droitwich and so on, the St Peter’s line would connect to the new Norton station and national rail.

Perhaps some of the committees and planners could evaluate the viability. Impact. and cost with it feeding Worcestershire and its universities through the Norton gateway onto the national railways.

It would certainly put Worcester back on the map. Diverting money from the proposed bus pick up and drop service would give better returns, as the return of the train halts would make the buses and station redundant.

A short train trip to Hereford would show the sidings and rails are still in place, but the signals and points will want renewing.

Don’t forget how the west country holiday traffic through Bristol would benefit from this.

Could The Hive and its surrounding car parks be included as a new Worcester rail station, selling Foregate Street?

Stanley Clayton Worcester