THE proposed plans for Morrisons supermarket at Honley will lead to the destruction of two of Honley’s oldest remaining mills.

Honley Mill, where Drake’s is now located, is on the site of the old manorial corn mill and the existing building is the oldest surviving one still in use in the Holme Valley, dating from the 1790s.

Reins Mill has been there since the 1840s and is one of the last surviving structures of this date.

The weaving sheds attached to it are also now rare examples of this once familiar type of industrial building.

In recent time we have seen the loss of Bridge Mill at Holmfirth to make way for a proposed supermarket and Bradshaw Mill in Honley has been replaced by houses. What little remains of our industrial heritage is being continually eroded.

At Linthwaite, Low West Wood Mill, despite being a listed building, has been allowed to fall into ruin without any enforcement action being taken against the owners.

This cavalier attitude towards our heritage by planners who have no awareness or interest in the history of the area is typical of what is happening today.

Our communities are being shaped by the economic interests of large corporations who impose their own identity on towns and villages, not only throughout the country, but also the world. Traditional ways of life, and the history which underpins them, are thoughtlessly swept aside in the drive to globalisation.

Honley does not need another supermarket, nor does the Holme Valley, especially at the price of the further destruction of our architectural heritage.

Alan Brooke

Honley

Sky TV frustration

OF course I want to watch Huddersfield Giants play Catalans Dragons – it’s one of my favourite fixtures – but I’ll be missing this time around.

The game has been brought forward two days by Sky (the sod everyone else company) who take it for granted that we’ll all fall in line – again.

Sorry, but I’m not. Enough now of shuffling around domestic arrangements, with the published fixture list seeming more of a rough guide rather than a fixed route through the season.

This time, on top of hacking off supporters, it also meant red carding a high school prom. Shameful – even to an old codger like myself who would normally take no interest in a teenage razzup.

But, yeah, I’ve still enough sap to understand it’s a really big deal for them. So I can understand the dismay and sense of chaos among the Shelley High School team when they lost the John Smith Stadium as their prom venue because the Catalans match suddenly, jarringly clashed with their knees-up.

A situation covered by the small print, of course, all highly unfortunate, blah, blah, blah. Right is right and this isn’t. Quite apart from any other consideration, Sky has plenty previous when it comes to rearranging matches without much notice.

Couldn’t the people involved in taking the booking have borne this in mind and advised Shelley to go elsewhere?

Whoever is culpable for this mess, the Giants will end up with some mud sticking to them. Perhaps rightly so because it’s time Super League people stopped being pussy cats. Why, oh why, did the Giants accept without apparent demur, playing twice in days last week.

You’ve got a fabulous, spectacular, high-octane game in your keeping. Sponsors more than welcome, but please don’t sell our soul. It’s sport after all which is supposed to be about fun and joy.

Robert Wood

Oakes

A wonderful man

I WAS very sad to read of the death of the author Deric Longden.

He was a man of great wit and humour. I challenge anyone to read his book The Cat Who Came In From The Cold and not laugh out loud at the passage about Thermal the kitten’s garlic sausage scented burps!

Yet Deric could also write with great sensitivity such as when he wrote of the passing of the elderly Arthur from feline leukaemia (not a dry eye in Chez Gott that day!)

We often saw Deric around Huddersfield. He seemed to favour the corner table upstairs in Choosy’s, and I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with him at a book signing when he proved to be a thoroughly nice, approachable man who was happy to chat.

A sad loss indeed. RIP Deric. I hope Thermal has got the garlic sausage sandwiches ready for you inside the Pearly Gates!

Mrs V Gott

Emley

Great night with Gerry

MANY thanks for the most brilliant night at St Michael's Church in Emley on Saturday, June 22.

I am sure all the people who attended will totally agree with me it was a night to remember. Gerry Marsden gave a marvellous performance and brought back many memories with his singing and very quick wit.

Thank you very much to the organisers who must have spent many hours working hard to make the weekend a roaring success.

I do hope you raise all the money to restore the lovely old church.

Hilda M Sykes

Lepton

Picking up litter

JIM Baxter's letter ‘Child's play area spoilt by rubbish'’ (Examiner, June 19) will have struck a chord with all those who despair at litter and those responsible for it.

Given a nice weekend you can guarantee that litterers will be heading for a pleasant location near you. Laden with all manner of liquid refreshment, popular snack and confectionery items whose packets, wrappers, bottles and cans will be carelessly left on the ground.

During these cash-strapped times we simply can’t expect the council to follow litterers around to clean up their mess. However, they should ensure bins are not left to overflow.

Jim Baxter is among a growing band of unofficial litter pickers who quietly go about this unglamorous and never-ending task.

A bin bag, a litter grabber (I got mine from Wilkinson’s) and a few spare minutes is all you need.

Uncle Grumpy

Golcar

Harold’s schooldays

GETTIT Wright of Marsh says that former Prime Minister Harold Wilson attended Royds Hall when it was a boys’ Grammar School.

My sister passed her 11+ in 1935 and went to Royds Hall Grammar School. She never let on to me!

Bonwell Spence

Huddersfield