Reaping Thatcher's fuel folly
Many years ago, the Honourable Lady privatised all of our energy companies and virtually closed all the coal mines.
The net result is that we are now paying the price of this folly. As a young man I used to buy coke from the gas works at Lostock Hall where our gas was produced to meet all our needs.
The powers-that-be, in their wisdom, demolished all these works and left us without an alternative supply, other than North Sea Gas which was obviously bound to run out in time.
I felt that at some later date we would regret these actions.
We have now reached that time.
We have two years until the next election. Let us think about those past years of Thatcherism and the effect they are having on our lives today.

Name and address supplied

Longton Library moving with times
I felt I had to write and give my support to Longton Library and the lovely staff there.
I was dismayed to read the negative letters. I am in my 80s and have used libraries all my life.
Yes, they have altered but they have had to move with the times and Longton is no exception.
As a community resource it has to cater for everyone's needs. This includes children, who cannot always just sit still and be silent.
I see the reader who initiated the correspondence is quite happy to use the computers, a recent service, but isn't happy with people enjoying a musical event which occurs yearly and is aimed at the visually impaired.
How can he begrudge such an inclusive initiative?
I use the library for books, as do my family including two great grandchildren who love Longton junior library and the storytelling.
I don't use the computers, but I realise other people do need this service and so I do not begrudge the space they take up, or the staff's time they use.
The librarian and her staff at Longton are pleasant and friendly and, most of all, helpful. They provide a comfortable welcoming environment for all. I'm sure they would advise people on the quietest time of day to visit.

Name and address supplied

Flag Market plans should be in open
Preston and South Ribble Civic Trust welcome the Landscape Institute's competition to think about the future of Preston's Flag Market. However we feel that lessons should be learned from the ill-conceived Winckley Square scheme.
The competitors should be given time to ask local people what they would like for their Flag Market. This might avoid an unpopular and imposed scheme.
The Council should check carefully the legal basis of the square and streets. They shouldn't assume ownership of the land. Many of the roads are still public rights of way – and official cycleways – although they are confusingly paved with stone to look like pedestrian areas. We don't want to see the core of the city centre's cycle network designed by ill-informed landscapers.
The judging panel should include a representative from Lancashire County Council, the highways authority, to ensure there are no illegal obstructions of highways. The Courts Office and Police should comment on a secure access to the Sessions House and policing of major events.
The shortlisted designs should be displayed publicly for everyone to see and comment on before a final design is chosen. If no design is suitable then so be it.
The Cenotaph must be treated respectfully. Do we need so many food stalls close to it? Some fairground 'attractions' have been very crude, like the skating rink and car showroom last Christmas in Harris Street.
The Harris Museum, a Grade One listed building, should be respected. We will oppose any suggestion of cutting windows or doors in the museum's square frontage at street level.
Any new stone introduced should be in keeping and locally sourced, and extra lighting should be low energy, if needed at all. Most importantly, there should be no more Preston Vision secrecy about the competition.

Aidan Turner-Bishop, Chairman, Preston and South Ribble Civic Trust

Step forward 78 Squadron members
Preston council has agreed to a Mayoral lunch as part of a
re-affiliation with 78 Squadron Bomber Command, and to recognise the awesome price paid in the sacrifice of 974 men, together with the presentation of a signed scroll which will take place during the first week of September.
The Council also agreed that the Squadron – an active unit which operates at RAF Benson under Wing Commander N.J. Coleman – would be invited to future
ceremonial events in Preston, such as Remembrance Sunday, Veterans Day and when any of the city's regiments are exercising their Freedom of Entry to the city.
Invitations, which are necessarily limited, are now offered to any veteran (or relative) of 78 Squadron who attended the 1943 ceremony and to any other person who served with the Squadron during the Second World War to join in this memorable occasion.
Please let me have your service details by letter.

Derrick Crampin, 203 Admirals Sound, Cleveleys,
Lancashire, FY5 1AE

Degree of debt is a ridiculous concept
Your recent revelation that fewer young people are opting to go on to university, comes as little surprise.
I recall that when tuition top-up fees were introduced, the Vice Chancellor of our university in Preston warned of this very outcome.
I don't say that a college education should be free of charge to anyone who wants one. How could it be, when the Government is trying to get overyone to go to 'uni', regardless of real academic ability?
But to expect young people to take on huge amounts of debt in addition to all the other debts they will face when trying to buy a home in later life, is a ridiculous concept.
It is also teaching young people that incurring debt is the natural order of things when, in fact, the country would not be in the mess it's in if people were encouraged to live within their means.

Bryan Midgeley, via email.

Recalling January harvest of 1955
I refer to the photograph which appeared in Looking Back on July 16.
It showed a combine harvester at work on a farm in Cockerham and was unusual in that the picture was taken in the month of January.
You asked what was the year and I can tell you that it was January 1955 after a completely disastrous summer of '54.
I remember it well, having been a farm worker at that time at Jim Fidddler's Fold Farm in Whitestake.

G. Cook, Parker Lane, Whitestake, Preston.

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