Readers' letters from Thursday 3 Sep 2009

Cruelty of bullfighting

FOR the greater part of humanity, imbued as they are with qualities of compassion and moral rectitude, the heinous 'sport' of bullfighting is nothing short of barbaric.Upon the barometer of distasteful pursuits, it falls somewhere between bear baiting and torturing kittens.It possesses none of the innate nobility and cultural importance often falsely ascribed to it. Rather, it is a grotesque example of the worst excesses of human cruelty, wrapped up in an arrogant disdain for one's fellow creatures. So you can imagine my shock and disgust, when entering the Waterstone's bookstore in Deansgate, I happened upon a leaflet advertising the following, up and coming book promotion: 'Frank Evans 16th September 7pm The UK's only official matador will be in-store talking about and signing The Last British Bullfighter. Tickets £3'.One has to question, what century are we in? How on earth can Waterstone's possibly condone giving publicity to this wretched individual? Let alone his 'ad nauseam' literary efforts to present this obscenity in anything like a morally palatable way. Shaun McGrath, Oldham

Shaun McGrath, Oldham

Scrapping of price control led to cheap booze boom

RE YOUR article (August 10) 'Scandal of cut price booze at heart of binge culture'. As a 66-year-old who left school in 1961 to work for Fine Fare, I remember the company did not have much interest in the sale of alcohol, in fact in the two and a half years I worked for them, I do not remember them having an alcohol department. Fine Fare concentrated its efforts on prices for sugar, tea, butter and other groceries. This may have had something to do with the Retail Price Maintenance, which in the case of tobacco, and probably alcohol, did not allow a retailer to sell below a certain price. I left Fine Fare around 1964 and set up with my father a Ronnie Barker-style Open All Hours shop. We had four competing shops nearby, one of which was an off licence. As I passed through the area last Friday to the council tip on Lumms Lane, Agecroft, only one shop was still open.On the advent of the opening of the precinct in Swinton, with its new Tesco, trade started to dwindle, so having started a new business with more prospects, Dad and I regretfully sold the cornershop on Cliveley Avenue (it's a house now) and moved into the cigarette vending machine business in pubs and clubs around 1968. This brought me into contact with the landlord/lady who ruled their establishments, fairly but with a rod of iron - no underage drinking, troublemakers banned. They seemed to have the support of the local constabulary. In other words, there was discipline. Now, in the days since the abolition of the RPM, it is no surprise to read in my paper of the demise of up to 40 or 50 pubs a week. One only need walk around the local supermarket. Lager at less than 50p per can, as compared to £3 per pint in the local. No wonder there is no control anymore. G.R. Brown, Worsley

G.R. Brown, Worsley

Green light this!

WITH all the fuss regarding traffic on Deansgate, may I put forward a little suggestion?In the 1960s, pre motorways, the old A4 went right through the centre of Slough in Berkshire. And at that time there were a dozen junctions, each with its own set of traffic lights. For a main arterial road this was a nightmare, grown men were known to cry! Then one day something had happened. At the first (and subsequent) lights there was a large notice: “If you leave these lights, and do not exceed 20mph, all other lights will turn green as you approach them.”And they did! Right through the whole sets of lights without a stop. They turned red in sequence after your passing, thus allowing the cross traffic to move until the next sequence started from the first set of lights again (each green lasted for about three minutes).I am not suggesting this as the perfect answer but it would eliminate the {lsquo}stop-start' crawl along Deansgate. D.A. Grady, Mossley

D.A. Grady, Mossley

Marsket Street mistake

LIFE was simple when I was a Manchester Corporation bus driver at Parrs Wood. Take the number 42 bus for example – Didsbury to Manchester and vice versa. On entering Manchester, I went along Oxford Road/Oxford Street onto Deansgate, Market Street, Portland Street, Oxford Street, Oxford Road and back to Didsbury. No problem.Then, the powers-that-be decided on the following nonsense: bus conductors no longer required, busses privatised and Market Street pedestrianised, this surely the biggest mistake of all? Or maybe an even bigger one with the proposal to pedestrianise Deansgate. My suggestion to make life simple again? Re-nationalise the buses, bring back the conductors, open up Market Street once more and leave Deansgate as it is! Oh, and get rid of those stupid bollards!Simple Simon, Manchester

Simple Simon, Manchester

Parade to remember the fallen

THIS Sunday the Royal Air Forces Association (Greater Manchester Region) will be holding their annual Battle of Britain Parade and Service in Manchester city centre. The parade will form up in Cathedral Gardens, Fennel Street (opposite the Printworks) at 2.15pm for the march-off at 2.30pm to St Ann's Church for the 3pm service.Following the service the parade will reform and march to Albert Square for a march past with the salute being taken by the Lord Mayor of Manchester and Air Commodore Gammon of RAF Cosford. All are welcome to attend the parade or just the service which is to remember all our servicemen and women who have given their life in the service of our country. All Ex-Service Associations and especially their Standards are cordially welcome. Sylvia Bramall, RAFA

Sylvia Bramall, RAFA

Heroic war workers

READERS may be interested to know about the memorial oak tree in the Peace Garden at Phillips Park, Bradford, near the City of Manchester Stadium.It has been planted to commemorate the lives of the people who worked in East Manchester during World War Two who turned up for work day in, day out despite facing hardships.The inscription reads: “Many men were in highly skilled jobs which were vital to the war effort and as such they were exempt from active service. For the first time women took over what had been traditionally men's jobs and most of these women had the additional workload of raising families without the support of husbands and partners who were away at war. “The heroic efforts of our past families, friends and neighbours who supported the work of the armed forces have enabled us to enjoy the freedom of our lives today. For this we give our grateful thanks.”A footnote stated: “Inspired by the lives of Irene and Thomas Bell who met and married whilst working at The English Steel engineering factory in Openshaw and who lived all of their lives in East Manchester.”They were my parents. Most of the industrial buildings have gone now and a New East Manchester is emerging but before we forget, maybe readers have stories to relate of the camaraderie which helped to keep up morale in these industries during this dark time in our history?Irene Johnson, Ancoats

Irene Johnson, Ancoats