SOMETIMES when a company is not doing so well it can be a wise move to have someone in the same industry to come in and overhaul the problem and put a new light on why or what is not working properly and to give advice on the problem.

Well, Dale Tempest on his first visit to watch Town in ages pulled no punches on Town’s performance and put his finger on why and what needs addressing before it is too late.

Any Town fan who missed his comments missed a very interesting assessment of the current problems.

But why has Mr Grayson and his team not sussed out this very serious drop in form and game pattern.They have had nearly three months to take this on board.

Everyone I speak to are losing heart and Mr Hoyle must be wondering what on earth is going on at the moment.

If the manager can’t motivate the players to work their socks off I suggest the last throw of the dice is for the owner to go to the bank and get a million pounds in £20 notes and pile them up on the dressing room table and tell the 15 or so players in the squad that its theirs for the taking if they get promoted. That might motivate the team.

Nothing else seems to be working at the moment.

OK, it seems like a crazy idea. Or has anyone else out there got a cunning plan

Victor

Kirkburton

Past in the present

WE live in exceptional times. For comparison, here are some comments from the Holmfirth Express in 1910.

May 7: The Union of May and December. Holmfirth people realised what it meant yesterday. It was December weather in the month of May.

May 14: On the morning of Sunday last, rain falling in torrents and at one period a slight fall of snow. Snow was to be seen on the heights of Holme Moss.

May 28: Shortage of housing. Holmfirth is being boomed as a summer resort, but we are at a loss as to where they will find lodgings. Young folks are putting off the happy day because there are no decent houses.

July 16: Another accident involving a runaway wagon which hit a wall in the narrow Upperthong Lane and ran into Upper Bridge where a young man was seriously injured. Previously a wagon had run away down Dunford Road and crashed into a shop window. In one case, the horse had to be put down.

Wood Nook Hotel closed due to bankruptcy. Walls in the park disfigured by indecent offensive writing.

The new gates to the park broken by young men. Police to visit periodically. Local people appointed to assist in maintaining order.

There were concerns about terrorist groups operating in London and a students’ suicide club in Berlin. There was anger at the government’s handling of the economy and politicians generally.

R S

Holmfirth

Disabled parking

I AGREE with Mr Small that there needs to be more efficient checking on parking.

I too have seen cars parked illegally and getting away with it. But what qualifications does he have to judge someone’s disability.

There are many hidden disabilities which would qualify for a blue badge but would also fit the description he gave and are younger couples no longer allowed to be disabled?

Mrs T Roberts

Lepton

‘Ferry’ arrives in port

COULD someone please tell me how on earth they managed to get that cross Channel ferry which is at present moored down Chapel Hill on Canalside past Aspley Marina.

A planning blot on the landscape or what?

Peter Mellor

Meltham

Kindness can kill

WHAT is it about the bad driving habits of certain people?

No, I’m not talking about the young so-called boy racers – at least they have an excuse for their stupidity and it’s called youth and inexperience.

What I’m talking about are the drivers out there who bend over backwards to show how ‘courteous’ they are.

Now, I’m all for showing other road users respect and, in certain circumstances, giving way to others.

What I have difficulty in understanding are the idiots out there who absolutely insist that I pull out in front of them no matter how much it inconveniences other road users.

You know the ones behind these people who have to suddenly brake for no other reason than the lovely warm glow the perpetrators are getting because they have let someone out.

I have had people stop in front of me from 40mph to actually let someone out of a side turning. What?

Again, I’ve also had people insist I come across in front of them when turning right across traffic despite the fact that there have been lorries, buses, cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists coming up the inside of them. And before anyone says anything this is allowed. Just check the highway code.

I want to make the decision to make a manoeuvre – not other people – so will these drivers who like bending over backwards actually think before they attempt to let people out.

Have they looked behind them to see if it will cause other drivers to brake unnecessarily? Is there anything coming up the inside?

I have this nearly every day when turning right from Wakefield Road into Greenhead Lane.

When I have pointed out why I won’t come across in front of them because of a bus or similar coming up the inside I’m looked at as if I’m the stupid one.

The other side of the coin is when I’m out either on my classic Lambretta or my big yellow motorcycle.

I can be seen from what I’m wearing and the colour of the bikes from half a mile away so why is it that people look me in the eye and then pull out.

I know you’ve seen me because you’ve looked at me. It’s a good job I know how to ride because you people certainly don’t know how to drive.

Is it the same people who exhibit the over-the-top courtesy to other car users no matter what the inconvenience to others behind you? Or is there two separate breeds of idiot out there?

Incidentally, when taking the driving test, if you cause other road users to brake without reason – such as by stopping in moving traffic to do the said bending over backwards courtesy to let someone out in front of you – then that’s what’s called a ‘major’ fault and is an automatic fail.

If you cause an accident by letting someone out by ‘flashing them’ then it’s your fault.

The flashing of headlights is for one reason only – and that’s to warn other road users you are there. Read the Highway Code.

The consequences of pulling out in front of someone either on a bicycle, scooter or motorcycle are usually catastrophic for the rider.

If you want to bend over backwards to be courteous to other road users then do it for those of us on two wheels. We might have a better chance of living to old age.

Bob Monkhouse

Dalton

Finding my keys

PLEASE may I use your letter column to expression appreciation to the lady who found the keys I had lost while watching the funeral outside the Parish Church yesterday.

She hurried off before I had chance to thank her properly.

Grateful mourner

Huddersfield

Vote of thanks

I WOULD really like to take this opportunity to thank all the residents of the Golcar Ward who went to the polls and voted for me on May 3.

It has been my privilege to represent the ward since 2003. Most unfortunately I did not manage to win this time. However, I would like to wish Clr Paul Salverson all the very best for the future.

Clr Christine Iredale

Milnsbridge

Lower speed limits

IN an Examiner article dated May 3 the road safety charity BRAKE states that most roads are unfit for cycling.

I fully agree. In fact they are hardly fit for driving on in parts of Kirklees.

Their spokeswoman goes on to campaign for "widespread 20mph limits where people live and work."

If one links this with their Examiner article dated April 19 where they campaign for "driving below 20mph around homes, schools and shops" it can easily be deduced that BRAKE’s goal is to have a 20mph limit imposed in all urban and suburban areas stretching from Marsden to Middlestown, Brighouse to Brockholes and beyond.

This draconian imposition no doubt would be followed by further campaigns to reduce the speed limit to 15mph or 10mph before calling for the banning of private cars altogether.

BRAKE also claims that widespread 20mph limits would reduce pollution. That’s not the case as any motor engine does not work efficiently at low speeds in low gear so in fact the opposite is true.

BRAKE has the surface veneer of a charity supporting road accident victims and no doubt does a great job with the bereaved.

Where the veneer unravels is their apparent blind hatred of the private motorist calling for ever tighter constraints on their freedoms and draconian penalties for the most minor of transgressions.

If "one life lost is one too many" then the only answer is prohibition of all motor and even pedal powered transport, especially the Lycra louts who insist on cycling on pavements. Is that something we would all support?

Ian Hunter

Lepton

Future elections

YOUR letter page on May 3 highlights the many years of questioning why voting should be made compulsory.

Government has spent millions of pounds advertising seeking all the electorate to use their vote, but do they really mean it? I’m not sure.

Low turnout in elections, in my view, benefits some parties and produces the results these parties plan for as those of us who vote are the core voters within the three party line up.

There may be a blip now and again but, on the whole, results are as expected.

To increase voter numbers would change that pattern. New voters would not be party political as the core voters and this would throw political annalists into chaos, not sure which way the vote would go.

Candidates in all layers of council or government will be forced to up their game, working much harder for the electorate, perhaps questioning the party line and opting out of the whip.

The removal of the whip from politics perhaps would be a step for real democracy.

This country is now sadly run by political kidology as witnessed within front bench exchanges across the chamber.

The Cabinet systems that now controls local Government – including Government – remove true democracy from councillors and MPs. Most of the electorate now feel totally isolated from the policy and direction the country or council areas now per sue.

Those who sadly believe a Mayoral system will improve the electorates input on policy – one man or women in total control – are living in cloud cuckoo land and with the fairies.

Democracy will have clearly been thrown out of the window. Think about it.

R Dobson

Mirfield