I AM writing to express the total shock at the loss of Hinchliffe’s Farm Shop in Netherton.

As locals who live ‘just round the back’ from Hinchliffe’s we are nearly daily visitors to the cafe/restaurant (for business meetings and leisure), to the farm shop for their fantastic food and, of course, to the animals for our little ‘uns.

So, like other members of the Netherton community, we are appalled to hear what had happened. Not just the terrible cost of the destruction, but all of the jobs of the local people who work at Hinchliffe’s. Such a dreadful thing to happen, especially during this economic climate.

But we would like to encourage the Hinchliffe family and staff to take heart. Hinchliffe’s reputation goes far, far beyond Netherton. We have friends and family from across Manchester and Yorkshire who will only buy their meat (and the famous pork pies) from Hinchliffe’s and their food is frequently taken by us to Birmingham, London, France and Spain.

While inevitably people will find other places to shop in your absence, such amazing quality produce will never be replaced and the sheer professionalism and lovely personalities of people like Louise who manages the restaurant and the other members of staff will not be forgotten quickly!

Dear Hinchliffe Bunch – your customers will remain loyal and we will be backing you all of the way in your efforts to rebuild your farm, your shop and your restaurant.

If you are going to have to pitch a barrow at the end of Netherton Moor Road, us local fans and your not-so-local fans will be there helping you along every step of the way!

All the very best – we are thinking of you all!

Christina, Ian, Ruby and Gregory Agnew

Netherton

Just not on the ball

ISN’T it about time somebody from the Giants was upfront with the supporters?

Yes, we are in the top half of the table. Yes, we are having a terrible time with injuries. Yes,ŠThierry Alibert was as bad as ever last SundayŠ and yes, we have had a surfeit of off-field problems.

But it is as plain as the nose on your face that since we signed Danny Brough and brought in the ensuing Špositional changes we have ceased to perform as necessary.

I was prepared to Šaccept that a coach who has had us performing so well over the last two seasonsŠknew what he was doing in making this signing.

But I and all other supporters I come into contact with fail to see why he was signed and actually what he had done to encourage us to sign him.

He can’t tackle, doesn’t make breaks Šfor himself orŠ for other players, his kicking at best can be kindly described as erratic – all of which I would suggest were obvious at all his previous clubs, whoŠall were apparently happy to see him move on.

As to the apparent length of contract – to the end of the 2014 season – it’s simply astounding.

The best thing that could now happen would be to ship him back to Wakefield as soon as possible. They may be open to this suggestion given their own recent dire performances.

N Hinchliffe

Birchencliffe

Carved in stone

WELL done Alan Livesey for accepting responsibility for the mistake on the Golcar war memorial.

Now who will come forward from Kirklees to admit to an even bigger gaffe?

Last year Kirklees spent tens of thousands of pounds destroying the century-old character of the park and memorial gardens at Kirkburton by re-landscaping something which just needed some pretty intensive gardening following years of neglect by the council.

As part of the scheme they built some badly designed and unnecessary steps to ‘create a more formal approach and setting’ for the war memorial.

The cenotaph, as it is usually called, was the work of a prominent early 20th century architect in the Arts and Crafts Movement, William Douglas Caroe, who saw it as a free-standing structure.

Kirklees then started on the memorial itself. Some of the names needed re-carving and it could be that, because of the stone, this was better done on new stone plaques fixed to the sides of the memorial over the names.

Fine.

But no attempt was made to reflect the pattern of the stonework they were to cover or the original font in which the names were carved.

Then, they transposed two of the panels so the names no longer reflect the order in which the deaths of the men were notified.

To cap it all though, two of the names have been mis-transcribed. My great-uncle Ernest Arthur Carter has now become F A Carter and the village jeweller and clock maker, Charles S Warey, who fought his own long battle to get into the army, has now become C S Warley.

We can all be the victim of the occasional misprint and a stray apostrophe is a minor embarrassment, but these men’s names are supposed to ‘live for evermore’ because they are carved in stone. Clearly this does not apply to my uncle or the man who sold my grandfather his wedding ring.

Talking of stray punctuation marks, has anyone noticed the Thurstonland millennium village name stones with the punctuated date M.M. for MM, 2000? At least I assume it’s the date. Perhaps it’s the name of the mason.

Robert Carter

Kirkburton

Cancel torture review

I CANNOT believe what I hear and see in the news.

Were we complicit in torture and now face a review for one year to find out how?

I am 64 and reasonably intelligent. I do not think we are or were complicit but I and most people like me have known for at least 40 years that the CIA and all the South American countries that the CIA helps, the French SDECE, the Saudis, the Syrians, the Israelis, the Pakistanis and a few others do physical torture.

So it is pretty certain that the British government and secret services would know that too and take advantage of it. It does not make us complicit, just aware.

Cancel the review and stop wasting our money.

M B Fletcher

Emley

Coming out to play

WELL done to Barry Gibson (Examiner, July 7) for recognising the deep issues affecting children growing up in Britain today.

We do indeed need “an end to the paranoia which has stopped children playing on the street.’’ People who grew up where I live in Newsome speak of ‘fantastic’ childhoods – camping out with friends, woodland adventures and even rafting down the River Colne on large pieces of polystyrene. As a mum, the latter example makes my hair stand on end!

But I do recognise that children – and especially boys – need a good dose of adventure as they grow up. If we deny this to them they will find other less character-building and more antisocial ways of getting it.

That is why we have started a group, Newsome Out to Play, to bring everyone in the community together to support children to play out where they live. We are busy preparing for Newsome Playday on Wednesday, August 4, at Ashenhurst Rec (between Newsome Road and New Laithe Hill) from 11am-4pm.

This is part of the national Playday campaign (www.playday.org.uk) whose theme this year, Our Place, supports our goals precisely. We invite readers to join us for a fun-filled family day out, showcasing what the area has to offer for children’s free play all year round. More information at www.newsomeouttoplay.org.uk.

Alison Richards

Newsome

Volunteers’ red tape

I’M afraid I cannot share Chris Woolnough’s regret at the forthcoming demise of the Voluntary Action Kirklees (Mailbag, July 6).

A number of years ago a group that I was involved with asked VAK if they had anyone on their books who might help us out. Before they would entertain us they demanded to see a ‘written equal opportunities policy’.

Not surprisingly we didn’t have one – frankly we had better things to do with our time, hence our request for help. However, a member jumped through their hoops by spending hours drafting and writing a policy, but we subsequently received no volunteers via VAK.

As a consequence of this request I started to receive their newsletter and, as an exercise in politically-correct box-ticking, it would be difficult to excel. I had to cancel it in the end before I kicked my cat in anger and exasperation.

So while I sympathise with the staff who will lose their jobs I feel that VAK is a good place for spending cuts.

Cynic

Colne Valley

Dangerous parking

RE the Fixby Junior and Infants School parking ban, I wholeheartedly agree with it.

I used to regularly travel on Lightridge Road and it’s extremely dangerous. Parents park at both sides of the road, parking very badly too, yards away from the kerb, and abandoning cars anywhere. For some time I have taken a longer and different route to avoid this danger.

The only problem will be that it will possibly move the problem elsewhere! I wonder how many children could walk to the school.

Mrs A

Brighouse