Kindness lives on in the world

Kindness lives on in the world

Sir - The age of chivalry is not dead.

I was a WAAF driver and I became an amputee in 1944 as I was a survivor of a London air raid. For some time I have been walking, or rather wobbling along with the aid of crutches.

I often shop at the Nisa store in Brickhill. The door is rather stiff and I generally wait for someone to open it for me.

The staff are always helpful.

On Friday June 25, I was waiting by the door and a customer asked if I needed help.

I said I was just going to buy some strawberries and cream.

He offered to get them for me and then he refused to let me pay for them. He carried them to the car for me and helped me get in.

All I know about him was that he was working nearby and his name is Julian.

This is one way that I can acknowledge his kindness.

Peggy Simmons Falcon Avenue, Bedford  

Let all come hither…

Sir - When launching the new database of nonconformist historical records the spokesman for the online genealogy firm Ancestry, Dan Jones states: ‘Multi-faith and multicultural societies around the world owe a great deal to nonconformists who fought for a more tolerant Britain.’

He’s correct of course. So how good is it that multi-cultural, multifaith Bedford should have as its most famous son that outstanding nonconformist prisoner of conscience, John Bunyan?

Thrilled by his life story and his writings, people come from across the world to learn more of him here in his home area.

Bunyan is particularly appreciated in places like modern China or the old Soviet bloc, indeed anywhere that has experience of a governing elite attempting to enforce its beliefs on those who disagree.

Maybe this summer would be a good time for Bedfordians whether Sikh, Christian, Atheist, Buddhist or whatever to discover more about their internationally renowned fellow townsman by visiting the excellent museum in Mill Street dedicated to Bunyan.

A Rome Pinchmill Way, Sharnbrook

Brush off for Tory

Sir - It is unlike Bedfordshire On Sunday to miss the main point of a story (Hunt claims runaway win in Kempston poll, BoS June 27).

Shan Hunt did indeed record an excellent result in the Kempston North by-election by securing an increase of nine per cent in the Labour share of the vote.

However, with Ant Caprioli securing a five per cent increase in the Liberal Democrat share of the vote, the Liberal Democrats can also take some satisfaction from the result.

Where I do agree with Shan Hunt is the massive thumbs down the residents of Kempston North gave to the Tories and their candidate, the present Kempston Town Mayor.

To see your vote virtually halved since the local elections last year is a decisive rejection of the 50 per cent council tax increase levied by the Tory-controlled Kempston Town Council.

Cllr Tim Hill Bedford Borough councillor for Wootton Ward

Peacock rules the roost

Sir - After reading your ‘Residents warned over peacock’ article I felt compelled to write.

I live in Westbourne Road and first spotted the peacock out of my dining room window on March 29. I subsequently posted a comment about it on Facebook since it’s not the type of bird I expect to see at our bird table.

Since then it has made regular visits to friends of mine who live in Coventry Road.

They filmed it as it strutted outside one of their bedroom windows and posted the film on their Facebook profile.

Apparently it is from a house on Bromham Road, although I cannot confirm this, although it is clear that the bird has been around a lot longer than your newspaper reported.

Phil Caunt Westbourne Road, Bedford

A plague on Mr Lowe

Sir - When reading Steve Lowe’s column at my Sunday breakfast table, mostly I resist the urge to splutter at his skimpy treatment of our nation’s history and cultural treasures.

On the occasion of his patronising diatribe last week against Morris Men in pubs, however, I ask his attention to be drawn to the following.

He invents something called the Black Plague, apparently confusing the Black Death (c.1348-50) and the Great Plague (1665-66). Another curiosity is his likening of the Morris to the weird term rural socialism – whatever that is.

The English pub is for all including men in silly hats and especially uninformed men with silly ideas.

Chris Yates Chapel Lane, Ampthill

Cap election expenses

Sir - I read with interest your article explaining that our new MP, Conservative Richard Fuller spent – according to his declaration of expenses – twice as much during the election campaign as the previous incumbent, Labour’s Patrick Hall.

While I am sure that Mr Fuller’s declaration was fully in accordance with the rules, I doubt that it gives the complete picture as the town was saturated with Conservative billboard posters for the entire campaign.

These were not distributed evenly throughout the country but targeted at marginal constituencies like Bedford and Kempston. Labour and the Liberal Democrats had no comparable marketing.

In reality, the amount spent here by the Conservatives to secure a narrow victory of only 1,500 votes was massively more than was available to the other parties.

Mr Fuller was quick to point out that it is campaigning by local volunteers that really matters.

If this is true, why, particularly in our impoverished times, spend the money? It’s clear we need a cap on the amount that parties can spend in elections, perhaps just enough to provide leaflets, rosettes and other tools needed by local people campaigning for the parties they believe in.

Only then will elections be really fair.

Anthony Forth Cotswold Close, Bedford

Stop this schools folly

Sir - The Borough schools reorganisation has cost £486,400 already and a further £385,000 will be spent because the Mayor says nobody in the Department of Education has told him to stop wasting money.

Something that was obvious to the majority of parents eight months ago and is obvious to everyone following the budget, is still proving difficult for the Mayor to grasp because he simply cannot accept that he made the wrong call on schools re-organisation.

The funding to put the changes in place was always in doubt given the proximity of the General Election and having gone so far down this route, the only sensible decision now is to defer the schools reorganisation just as Suffolk has done until the BSF money materialises.

That way you will not end up with a huge black hole in the schools budget and you will be able to use the savings to retain jobs at the Town Hall.

Parvez Akhtar Allen Close, Bedford

Charge council parkers

Sir - With reference to you headlines ‘Council job cuts fears’ in last Sunday’s BoS together with your article on page 5 ‘Council staff are full of bright ideas’ may I put forward a bright idea to Mayor Dave Hodgson and chief executive Philip Simpkins.

On behalf of Bedford Council taxpayers they should start making their staff pay to park their cars in council car parks or take the Park and Ride buses the same as the general public would have to do, or pay the same fee as the public in council multi-storey car parks.

Even doctors and nurses have to pay in hospital car parks.

Let’s start at say £1 per day increasing when public car parking charges go up. This would bring in a healthy amount per year for very little outlay from the council.

Or are the top brass afraid of having to dip in their own pockets? Just remember councillors the days of wine and roses are over.

John Couzens, Brook Lane, Renhold

Schools conundrum

Sir - I notice that some of the middle schools planned for closure have registered for Academy status.

If granted, this breaks them free from local authority control and thus calls into question the planned closure itself.

I am no expert, but would be interested to hear the legal opinion of others as to which authority takes precedence.

As middle school teachers are probably leaving in droves in search of employment security one imagines such a clarification is urgently required before the drain of excellent teachers reaches a critical level.

James Shea Chelmer Close, Bedford

Penalising the disabled

Sir - Concerning your article last week headlined ‘11,600 people do not want jobs…’ the Government is systematically removing tens of thousands of severely disabled people including those with terminal cancer, medically proven disabilities and undergoing long term major procedures from receiving disability living allowance and incapacity benefit.

The relabeling exercise hasn’t altered their ability or improved their opportunity to work, but having been removed from the incapacity register they are now swelling the jobless figures and creating a considerable shift in the statistics.

Many retired people have served their time and whether richer or poorer deserve the right to decide if they want to go back to work without being harassed by petty moneypinching bureaucrats.

People often overlook the fact that many retired and disabled people provide a highly valuable free service to their community and help support young family members get to work.

Your article quotes several statistics but in this name-and-shame culture it doesn’t go far enough to distinguish the difference between those who can and can’t work and those who may have done nothing wrong.

Dave Beeman (retired and disabled) Old Ford End Road, Bedford


I am a disabled person and find that answer lies in using the Disability Discrimination Act.

The legislation is there for disabled people to take unreasonable service providers to the local county court where a judge can order compensation and require a pub, restaurant or shop to replace steps with a ramp or remove any other barrier to good access.

I don’t know what access for disabled people is like in Central Beds but over the past few years I have noticed considerable progress in Bedford Town Centre.

While there is still room for improvement I cannot help but notice the increased number of ramps, level entrances and automatic doors. So stop complaining Mr Storey and use the law which is there for your benefit.

Hazel White Box End Road, Kempston