KIRKLEES councillors who voted against the rebuilding of the public house on Castle Hill are to be congratulated for their wisdom and sense.

A commercial venture of that type would require considerable numbers of customers to make it commercially viable risking damage to what is one of the most important historic sites in the north of England.

The need to widen the access road would have destroyed even more of the medieval earthworks which once removed can never be replaced.

That this issue can ever have been in any doubt is quite disturbing, given the fact that the hill and surrounding area contains archaeology dating back over 4,000 years, along with ditches and embankments from various and substantial fortifications.

Further archaeology is taking place but may I suggest to people interested in the history of this site that they read the excellent short publication by Dr William Varley. He undertook a series of excavations between the 1930s and 1970s and uncovered an amazing story. A shorter version of his work can be found on the internet.

Some of your correspondents need to remember there was a pub on Castle Hill and that it was the developers and not Kirklees Council who tore it down.

They then proceeded to construct a totally unsuitable building for which they did not have planning consent and had to be forced to remove it.

After this flagrant breach they then embroiled the council in a protracted argument about the future of the site.

After all this long performance, matters may still not be settled by the recent vote creating further possible uncertainty about what comes next. It is the developers who caused all of this problem, not Kirklees. As experienced developers they should have been well aware of the sensitive nature of the site.

After all of this long performance, matters may still not be settled by the recent vote creating further possible uncertainty about what comes next. It is the developers who caused all of this problem, not Kirklees. As experienced developers they would have been well aware of the sensitive nature of the site. They are the ones to blame for this mess not the councillors who had the guts to stand their ground.

May I suggest to those correspondents who find it difficult to manage without a cup of tea when visiting that they resort to the old solution of people visiting the countryside and take a flask.

What Kirklees councillors are dealing with there is an outstanding ancient monument, not a theme park.

Whatever the outcome of future deliberations, the main priority now must be to ensure no further destruction takes place.

STEPHEN GREEN

Honley

They’ll be back

THE rejection of the latest proposal to build on Castle Hill should be welcomed.

It was a close shave with Kirklees planning committee voting against the development plan by one vote.

Whatever your opinions of the Thandi brothers, they’re nothing if not determined.

Surely it’s only a matter of time before they have another go.

The imminent demise of Lindley Moor shows us that sooner or later the planners, property speculators and builders will get their way.

I’m sure many Huddersfield folk prefer Castle Hill as a place of quiet reflection, far from the madding crowds, away from the clatter and clutter of our hectic lives.

Uncle Grumpy

Golcar

Happy hill memories

REGARDING the ongoing Castle Hill saga, may I just say that as a 10-year-old boy along with my elder sister that Sunday was a day to look forward to.

A walk to Castle Hill with our late parents living at Almondbury we would walk up Westgate and Kaye Lane to the castle and on the arrival would be treated to a bottle of orange crush, straw and a packet of salt in the bag crisps while our parents had a beer. I am now 66 but will never forget those happy days.

Later in life I had my bachelor party at Primrose Hill WMC in 1984 where I met the Thandi brothers who ran the club.

I respect them very much as they were helpful and obliging and nothing was too much trouble to them.

It seems that this famous landmark in recent times, including a public house, is not respected as it was in my day.

On my late mother’s 80th birthday we celebrated with a meal and a drink and enjoyed it most sincerely.

Please let’s be sensible and keep this famous heritage, along with public house, public toilets and, of course, the Thandi brothers.

V THORNTON

Dalton

Libraries consultation

REGARDING the Kirklees Council consultation Your Library Your Voice I have concerns that this recent consultation is a paper exercise.

Libraries are all about face-to-face services but when I attended a few of these events I never saw a director, assistant director or councillor.

If directors and assistant directors do not use and value face-to-face working how can we trust them to present informative choices about our services?

Perhaps I was just unlucky or did not recognise faces. Could the council allay my concerns by stating which councillors, directors and assistant directors attended and where to reassure the public you understand and take libraries seriously?

John Guildford

Huddersfield

Demolish cottages

I NOTE the council’s proposals to bring back into use Longroyd Cottages at Longroyd Bridge.

Who in their right mind would want to live there? It would be better to demolish them which would allow for improvements to be made to the road junction to accommodate two lanes of traffic with a left filter lane from Paddock towards town.

I appreciate the buildings are listed, but having been left to rot by our esteemed council they are no longer worthy of such status.

Richard Turner

Lindley

Yes or no on Europe

NOW that David Cameron has got the hang of the concept of a straight yes/no vote in a referendum in Scotland perhaps he could apply his new-found knowledge to the needs of the British people and let them have their say on Europe and, hopefully, take us out of this costly, ill-conceived venture.

Elsie M Eva

Lepton

Rippon Bros memories

I JUST saw all the pictures about Rippon Brothers.

Well, I went to Hillhouse Central School, (the red caps) and since I was good at woodwork I left school in 1935 and was hired at Rippon’s as an apprentice carpenter.

I worked with Mr Brunton who always fascinated me by the fact that he had a row of small nails in his mouth and could hammer them at a great speed.

I actually worked on the Phantom 3 model but I didn’t learn much though because all I seemed to do was sweep up the floors and pick up all the nails that he had dropped.

I was at Viaduct Street and left there in 1937 and then worked at Shell Mex and BP Ltd until I joined the RAF in 1938.

Rita Billington

Ex Rippon Bros employee