Letters - February 22, 2018

I was delighted to read that work on repairing the corroded steel work on Harrowside Bridge had been completed ahead of schedule (The Gazette, January 31).

However, having walked down there a few days ago, I was shocked to see the state of the road surface on the bridge. Although the approach roads on either side of the bridge have been completely resurfaced, the asphalt on the bridge itself appears to have been repaired rather than replaced. This leaves a criss-cross, of what appears to be, a series of filled-in trenches. It looks more like the sort of aftermath that some utility companies leave behind after digging and filling a roadway.

Is there some technical reason for this? I would have thought the council would have taken the opportunity to completely resurface the bridge before it re-opened or was there too much of a rush to make the grand announcement of an opening ahead of schedule by Coun Gillian Campbell?

I’m no expert on road repairs but I’m concerned that the road surface on the bridge will need further repair work before too long and the opportunity to complete the work properly has been lost.

Could Coun Gillian Campbell comment on this?

L Amiss

Carlyle Avenue
South Shore

SOCIETY

Absurd antics of the suffragettes

The suffragettes were a clique of upper middle-class women who had nothing better to do than pursue a bogus martyrdom through warped ‘heroics’.

They were disorderly, a threat to life and property, and an embarrassment to many women. The magnificent Millicent Fawcett’s Suffragists were vastly better with their debates and protest marches based upon logic and rationality. Unfortunately, their case was destroyed by the absurd antics of the Suffragettes.

The real cause of women’s votes emerged at the end of the First World War. With civil unrest breaking out in may parts of Europe, it was considered that all men should be rewarded with a full franchise on the grounds that they had suffered greatly during the war and deserved a say in the selection of a democratic Government.

Equally, it could not be denied that the women of Great Britain had taken their share of the burden that had led to victory. The women of Britain had worked in the munitions factories, they had served close to the front line as nurses, and joined the women’s branches of the armed forces. They had ‘manned’ trams and trolley buses, worked in the fields, and assisted the police as ‘Volunteer Women Patrols.’ By the end of the war, the case in favour of women’s franchise was undeniable.

Although it took two steps to gain full voting rights for women, it should be remembered that the universal franchise among men took many centuries.

Furthermore, to push the achievements of those wonderful wartime women into the background in order to promote the anti-social activities of the Suffragettes is an offensive misuse of the historic facts and should be abandoned immediately.

E C Coleman

Via email

CARS

Automated car industry better

Remember those days when your car was put together by thousands of factory workers and when you got it you had only one-year warranty with the prospect of it beginning to rust on the 366th day or failed to start or just fell apart. Weekends were for fixing your prize possession.

Then the Japanese began using robots to assemble their vehicles - and the rest is history, as they say - they produce the most reliable vehicles and everybody else scrambled to follow suit.

Same with all “widgets” etc. So I can only imagine that Mr Prance (Your Say, February 1) fell asleep in the 70s and has only just woken up.

We now have a flourishing car industry supporting a huge number of jobs in far better condition, quieter by far.

Mr P Webberley

Cedar Avenue
Warton

SOCIETY

Smaller hospitals were the best

Is it any wonder Victoria Hospital is so busy. They closed St Annes Hospital, Lytham Hospital and South Shore Hospital.

I think it was called La Sarges the old building.

I had operations in all four hospital, the small ones were the best.

Mr A Gibson

Pilling Avenue
St Annes