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Chance missed

I read that the Bowyers site was going to be developed into yet more houses. When are the council going to give the people of Trowbridge something to be proud of. They have missed a golden opportunity to get the County town of Wiltshire back on the map as a place to visit by building proper leisure facilities that would draw people into the town. I visited the exhibition at the Civic centre on Tuesday afternoon and spoke with the representative for the developer and asked him what leisure facilities they planned to build there, he told me that they were going to build a gym and cafe’s. We already have three gyms within the town, do we really need another one.

I am a pensioner and we are always being told to stay active and have social interaction with other people. When the council closed Christy Miller it took this from many people of my age group, The council said that it would not do this until it had a replacement in place it now had the opportunity to replace the facilities that were lost but they choose to build houses and not what the people need.

I also met and spoke to Vince Allen head of Trowbridge town council and informed that I wrote to him a month ago about the state of the town centre. I addressed it to the head of Trowbridge Town Council C/O County hall because I did not at the time know his name. He said that he had not received my letter and that it had probably got lost in the mire of County Hall what a great endorsement for a council that they cannot redirect a letter to the right person. When I spoke to Lance Allen about the so called leisure facilities that were going to be built he told me that these types of businesses are the only ones that make money, is this all that they think of and not developing the town to be a place to be envied by the rest of Wiltshire.

Nine years ago my wife and I took part in a march through the town in support of the original developer but this also fell on deaf ears.

Mr.R.A.Naish, Chalfont Close, Trowbridge

Heroes ignored

It is with great disappointment that I note our annual service this year is described on St James church notice boards as a “Thanksgiving for the Royal Air Force” with no mention of the Battle of Britain.

To my mind the Battle of Britain Sunday service is sacrosanct since it recognises the achievements of those that fought in the air battle against tremendous odds and successfully defended our air space during the late summer and autumn of 1940; referred to by Sir Winston Churchill as “the few”; they remain to all of us to this day as “the few”. That battle for air supremacy is on a par with such battles as Trafalgar and Waterloo. Had “the few” not been successful in taking command of our skies then we would undoubtedly have been invaded by Nazi Germany and would have probably remained occupied to this day, the freedom and quality of life that we all enjoy and which many of us take for granted would have been quite different; the German language would have been imposed on us and we would have been forced to conform to the Nazi ideology and the German way of life. The Church of England would most probably have been abolished in a similar way that Judaism was suppressed.

It is entirely wrong that the church should decide that the Battle of Britain Sunday Service should be discontinued because they believe that it is no longer of any consequence. Surely we must ensure that we and future generations remember the sacrifices that were made.

Those young men and indeed women from many nations that fought to win this crucial battle in the air, on the ground and at sea deserve to be remembered for what they achieved and honoured in this way, this was undoubtedly the pivotal point of the Second World War that should be properly recognise.

S/Ldr Philip Lobb MBE RAF VR(T) Retd, Trowbridge

Street collection

I would like to thank the people of Warminster for raising £137.03 during my street collection on Saturday 21 September in aid of Brooke Action for Working Horses and Donkeys a charity helping to improve the quality of life of working animals in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Roger Challoner Green, Wingfield, Trowbridge

Bulldoze bridge

We say the police seem to get younger. This is not so in Bradford on Avon. I refer to the Bradford Bridge Busy Bodies. A group of pensioners dressed in high vis jackets who target and report hard working HGVdrivers who by mistake or misfortune have strayed into the sacred town of Bradford on Avon and dared to cross the hallowed bridge. The solution is straight forward. Remove the bridge and rebuild it somewhere like Barton Farm over a man made lake, similar to the old London Bridge that was moved to the Arizona Desert.

A wide single span concrete bridge could then be constructed over the river. The old bridge gets a lot of blame for congestion and contributing to the flooding problem. Bradford on Avon is proud of it’s medieval heritage. It even tries to replicate medieval road surfaces. Drive up Masons Lane and along Winsley Road if you want to experience them. A wide road can then be bulldozed up to meet the Bath Road. Take a tip from Trowbridge, here we demolish old and interesting buildings and replace them with concrete and glass. Then turn this into the popular tourist attraction of empty shops, coffee shops, phone shops and charity shops.

Readers may think that this is a lot of nonsense. It is meant to be. I have read serious reports and letters on the situation that are just as ridiculous.

Jim Day, Whiterow Park, Trowbridge

Credibility gone

Boris Johnson’s reckless, ill-judged downward spiral continues relentlessly as first his proroguing of Parliament is unanimously deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court, and now he is facing a deadline to explain his gifts of public funds and trips to an American pole dancer whilst he was London mayor!

We have an ineffectual, bumbling prime minister, happy for Britain to drift largely unprepared towards a No deal Brexit, whilst he desperately seeks photo opportunities amidst increasingly hostile receptions across the country.

Johnson desperately wishes he could prorogue the British public who keep asking him these awkward questions he can’t answer.

His ignorance was sorely exposed in EU meetings - he does not understand how the Single Market works. Too lazy to research outside his eurosceptic bubble, Johnson had no grasp of the actual situation. Johnson’s credibility is largely exhausted, he is bringing the office of prime minister into disrepute.

Yet another desperate extension to Brexit looks likely. But with currency speculators pulling the strings, wanting a no deal Brexit so they make multi-millions, its serious impact on everyone else may be ignored. The needs of the rich come first and the rest of us can go to the wall as far as Johnson is concerned!

Andrew Milroy, Bellefield Crescent, Trowbridge