Golly now being used as political toy

I WAS brought up in the 1950s playing innocently with golliwogs, and, like many another child of my generation, I was initially surprised by the ‘offensive’ label applied to the toy (UKIP MEP defends offensive image, Hereford Times, June 5).

The original ‘gollywogg’ was a character created by Florence Kate Upton in 1895, drawn from a tradition which survived in Britain as ‘The Black and White Minstrel Show’ as late as 1978.

Like comforting teddy, the golly was regarded as suitable for boys who might not be given dolls. Golliwogs invaded Noddy books, and dominated Robertson’s jam pots. We collected the badges and associate golly with happy childhood memories.

Now golly is being used as a political toy by a UKIP politician, perhaps seeking to get us to agree to one “innocent” thing, so that we can be persuaded into agreeing with other – more dubious – items on his agenda.

Nowhere is free of racial abuse, but it is hard for us in Britain to understand the depths of abuse that have been endured by black people in the United States and Europe, where black slavery is part of history.

When I was young I didn’t understand what the golliwog fuss was about. But I saw a truly shocking picture of a lynching in the Penguin book A Matter of Colour printed in 1965 and then I got it.

The leering crowds, the poverty and cruelty, the complete lack of humanity or empathy for people who had been despicably treated.

UKIP MEP Bill Etheridge appeals to the toy lover in all of us, but the outcome is to stir up hatred.

LIZ OVERSTALL Dulas

Rescue sets fine example

MAY I add my admiration for the selfless bravery of Robert Hirschmann and the two women who came to the rescue of Teresa Stinton when she was attacked by a powerful dog. They set a fine example to us all.

However, there is an untold story to this incident.

Throughout the whole episode, which lasted several minutes, a number of able- bodied men stood on the other side of the road and did nothing, although some apparently recorded the incident on their mobile phones.

Their craven cowardice can only be viewed with the utmost contempt by all responsible people, and I hope that, on reflection, they will recognise the enormity of their contemptuous moral failings.

LESLIE WILES Kimbolton

Not perfect, but fair...

FOLLOWING the letter from Graham Carpenter (Friends with secret cloak, Letters, May 29) I can confirm his worst fears.

A top-secret organisation known by the sinister- sounding name of The Friends of Leominster – thought to be led by prominent members of the Green Party – is about take over the town. It will force everyone to ride a bike and dig an allotment....

On a more serious note, may I point out that Herefordshire councillors of all political persuasions voted unanimously to refuse permission for a superstore and petrol station on the Dales site at Mill Street, Leominster, in January. They were faced with a range of strong planning grounds for refusal they simply could not ignore.

With regard to the proposal by Morbaine to build a superstore at Southern Avenue, opinion was divided. After a lengthy discussion the majority of planning committee members voted for refusal as the proposal breached specific local planning policies and national planning guidelines.

Both companies have now lodged new planning applications for superstores on the same sites. They will undergo scrutiny in a planning procedure that may not be perfect but aims to be fair and transparent and would be the envy of many other countries.

Greens, like members of other parties, voted for and against the superstores.

This is not a party political issue.

FELICITY NORMAN Leominster town and county councillor, Luston

Think about dogs in cars

WE had a nice morning at Wyevale Garden Centre recently. Coffee with friends, then bought a few things. But all that changed when we went back to the car park.

A poor dog was shut in a car and was howling and distressed.

Yes, the car had its back open, but it was very hot and the dog was in a wire cage. Why do people take their dogs out in the car on a boiling hot day?

Thanks to the staff at Wyevale who tried to get help for the poor animal.

JUDY POSTANS Moreton-on-Lugg

Ward needs change for the better

HAVING read Dorothy Hall’s letter (Medical staff deserve more, Letters, May 22) regarding Leadon Ward at Hereford County Hospital, we feel that we should add our experience.

My mother, aged 83 and terminally ill, had been wishing to die at home.

Sadly this was not to be the case. She agreed to return to hospital, and after a couple of days in other wards was transferred to Leadon Ward, for a fluid drain, to make her last weeks more comfortable.

On visiting the ward we considered it chaotic and patients seemed to be packed in like sardines. We felt that there did not seem to be a lot of dignity for patients.

When my mother could be discharged, we collected her tablets and left in plenty of time to be home before the ambulance.

We got stuck in Hereford traffic. What a surprise! So we rang the ward to see if the ambulance had left.

They had no idea if she was still there and apparently we had been told the wrong time for when the ambulance was booked.

When my mother did get home, it was found by her carers that washes had not been done correctly and prescribed creams had not been applied whilst in hospital. Also, an air mattress had not been used during her time on Leadon Ward, which resulted in bedsores.

There were other issues of poor care that have led to the district nurses making, with our approval, a formal complaint.

We would like to make it clear that we are not looking for compensation or resignations, just a change for the better.

NAME SUPPLIED Dorstone

Link road is not solution

I WOULD like to respond to the letter from our council leader (Waiting for approva l, Readers’ Times, May 8).

Government approval is now awaited to bring about the conclusion to the Edgar Street traffic situation.

But we are being told that the future here is with a road that is only going to add further volumes of traffic into Edgar Street. It is most certainly not going to get better if this goes ahead.

It will continue the traffic problem we have been suffering from since the 1960s thanks to a ring road passing through the middle of the city.

Our two lMPs have pointed out that the matter could be resolved via the eastern side of town by looking at the possibility of maybe our long-awaited bypass.

There is no justification in a relief road coming in from the west side of the city that will bring more traffic on to the A49 which is already overloaded.

There is every incentive for Herefordshrie Council to give some serious thought to the eastern route and put all efforts into the development of the Enterprise Zone.

This will provide the relief that Edgar Street and the A49 so desperately need.

So, Tony Johnson please don’t take us down another road to nowhere. Just complete this task and give Hereford what it deserves.

CRAWFORD POWNEY Geldof Grove Hereford

Value-cost distinction

UNCUT grass in parks and verges, public toilets closed, weekly rubbish collection abandoned, health services in crisis, a visible rise in deprivation and homelessness in the city – welcome to Tory Britain!

And let’s dispense with this oft-peddled myth that this is all due to the ‘mess’ left behind by the last government. The financial crisis cost us over a trillion pounds in bank bailouts and quantitative easing to clean up after the catastrophic errors of the bankers, speculators and tax- avoiding financiers (aka the people who fund the Conservative Party) who ruined the economy.

MP Jesse Norman may have his compassionate ‘Big Society’, but his brand of Toryism was quickly put in the dustbin by the privatising millionaires who run his party.

They know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

TIM BROWN Moorfield Street, Hereford

Like living in a ‘lost world’

EVEN though “we are all in it together,” and Herefordshire Council need – like us all – to make cutbacks and save money, they appear to be making a complete pig’s ear of it.

Tourism brings in much money to the county, money needed to keep some businesses afloat. Yet, the high increase in car parking fees and closure of some public toilets, will put visitors off coming here, rather than attract them.

And I’ve read the many letters about the council’s cutback on grass cutting and totally agree with everyone who has commented.

Some parts of the county resemble a third world, or some sort of swamp/lost world...

How is this a welcome to visitors?

Also, not cutting grass at certain points creates a hazard as it causes ‘blind spots’ for drivers. How long before an injured driver puts in a law suit against after an accident?

BRENDAN ELLIS Wegnalls Way, Leominster

Now two cuts are needed

FOLLOWING on from the considerable furore over the lack of grass cutting in the city this year, I recently emailed the council to ask what will happen to all the debris once the grass has been cut? Last year the contractor only had a responsibility to cut the grass, not to clear up afterwards.

Looking at the public grassed area near me on the junction of Seaton Avenue and Whitehouse Way, the resultant mess if and when it is cut can only be imagined.

The grass and most of the weeds are over 2ft high, while the fine display of nettles are now topping my neighbour’s 6ft fence.

The council did not answer any of my queries, but then sent me a standard letter regarding cuts which they have obviously cobbled together to fob us all off.

Finally, I heard this morning that where the council’s contractors have got round to grass cutting, the job has been so vast that they have had to cut it twice to get it under control.

JEFF BURKIN Whitehouse Way, Hereford