IN response to Mr Trevor’s opinion on the 1940s weekend in Grassington this year – Don’t glorify war to the youth of today (Craven Herald, October 1) – I must ask why he thinks that it celebrates “the fun of war”.
Surely the idea is to re-enact some part of what life was like in the country during the Second World War, and I was under the impression that, yes, there was a war going on and, yes, people’s relatives, friends and neighbours were fighting in a foreign country, leaving everyone not knowing if they will be seen again, but that in spite of it all, people’s lives continued as best they could. People still laughed, smiled, danced and sung.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom; people kept spirits high as best they could. So why not dress up, dance and sing like people did then to celebrate those people who were strong enough to try to carry on with life while the most horrific war carried on around them.
As far as the “parading of German military uniforms” setting our children a bad example. What is the alternative? Are we supposed to hide the enemy away after the event? I think it’s a good thing for our children to see, so that we can show them and say “look at them, they are dressed as the bad guys and they did terrible things”. Lest we forget that also most of the German men fighting were actually fighting for a cause they didn’t believe in, and neither did they want to fight any more than our own men did. At least our men were fighting for something they believed in.
Much better in my opinion that children learn about what happened in Nazi Germany, better that they learn of the horrific atrocities that occurred under the reign of Adolf Hitler, rather than hide it from them. It is something we have learnt from and we should continue to do so.
We have become more tolerant of each other in a bid to make a better world because of what happened. If we start to hide it, it starts to be forgotten, and once we forget about it, we cannot learn from it.
At least if we, as the human race, can learn from what happened and work to stop these kinds of things happening again, then at least those millions didn’t die entirely for nothing.
EMILY TRUEMAN,
Meadow Lane, Cononley.

A VERY big thank you to the 21 villagers who turned out during the course of Saturday for the Big Tidy Up of the grounds of St Alkelda’s Church in Giggleswick.
Together, they spent a total of 60 hours cutting hay, grass and weeds, filling 21 big builders’ bags in the process!
The work in the new churchyard is nearing completion, the garden of remembrance and wildflower area is developing and the clearing of the old churchyard is under way.
The small group of St Alkelda’s gardeners meets every Monday to carry out a variety of jobs between 2pm and 4pm (and at other convenient times), and we welcome anyone from the Giggleswick area to come and enjoy some exercise on a regular basis!
TONY CARROLL,
The Mains, Giggleswick.

I NOTE with dismay that North Yorkshire County Council and their satellites have once again seen fit to deploy giant tractors, complete with terrifying slashing equipment, loose on our country lanes.
By no stretch of the imagination can this be called pruning or trimming.
The drivers of these machines can have no feeling for nature as they slash and hack away at our trees. leaving what resembles a war zone in their wake. Not only is this horrendous to look at but also very dangerous as the split and broken branches would be lethal should anyone be unfortunate enough to fall onto one.
It seems that North Yorkshire County Council is intent on destroying our beautiful countryside, which is what visitors come to see.
BRENDA SHUTTLEWORTH,
Glusburn Moor.

CRAVEN Mental Health Forum and local GP surgeries, Fisher Medical Centre and Dyneley House Surgery, would like to thank everyone who attended the Craven Mental Health awareness event coffee morning on October 6 at Skipton Library; Horton Housing Cafe volunteers, Practice Health Champions, the stallholders, cake makers and raffle prize-givers, and the library staff who contributed the venue and helped with the setting up.
The event also showcased the commitment to mental health awareness and support in Craven, and the excellent partnership working that goes on between such a diverse range of agencies/professionals/volunteers to work together to achieve this.
The event raised £90 for the Mental Health Foundation and marked World Mental Health Day, which was on October 10.
This year’s theme was ‘Dignity in Mental Health’, and lots of people added their interpretations to our pin board of what it meant to them. The most popular comment was ‘being respected’.
EMMA TAYLOR,
Health promotion officer, Fisher Medical Centre and Dyneley House Surgery;
SYLVIA MERRETT,
Craven Mental Health Forum chairman;
HELEN BANNISTER,
Project worker, Horton Community Cafés.

ALL the articles I’ve read on the subject of burglaries fail to make any mention at all of street lighting playing any kind of factor in preventing this crime (Letters, September 24 and October 1).
Even the Home Office data tables make no mention.
What seems to make the difference is security lighting (sometimes), automatic interior lighting switches and, above all, secure doors and windows, five-lever deadlocks, multipoint locks, window locks. – all used carefully by minds geared towards keeping ones house secure.
Most burglaries take place between midnight and 1am whether the streetlights are on or off.
To say the absence of street lighting is a burglars’ paradise is mere scaremongering. The combined absence of occupants and security are the real culprits.
ALLAN FRISWELL.
Keighley Road, Cowling.