Readers’s letters, July 7 2017

I moved to Great Yarmouth in 1969 with my family and duly registered with a dentist.

In those days I attended every six months, as was usual.

As the years passed I was asked to attend yearly and, later, every two years.

I was fortunate in having reasonably trouble free teeth and only bothered the dentist rarely when I needed to.

Recently a small piece of tooth broke away and I decided to see my dentist.

On June 29 I the surgery to book an appointment.

I was casually informed by a young receptionist that I was no longer patient on their book as I had not visited in the past two years.

I was astounded. I thought I was being considerate in not taking up their time when I had no problem.

I was informed that I last saw my dentist in 2009 and therefore had been removed from their list.

I looked up their entry in the telephone book and found they described themselves as, ‘A professional and caring service for the whole family’.

They are anything but in my opinion.

Now in my advanced years I must search for a another dentist.

Perhaps this one will have the decency to inform me if and when I am struck off.

Courtesy costs very little but seems in short supply these days.

DAVID DYE,

Email

We are deterrent to speeding drivers

As chairman of the Great Yarmouth Road Safety Group, which organises the speed watch for the North Yarmouth Area, I would like to enlighten L Muffett and all readers of the Mercury of the role of the group. L Muffett states in his letter of last week that his friend was caught travelling at 34mph and was fined. I can assure you this was not recorded by our group as we never record anybody travelling at under 35mph and they are not fined.

In fact the role of the group is to be a deterrent.

There is always three of us out at any time, the person travelling at over 35mph is recorded and I then send in their details to Norfolk Constabulary who in turn send out a letter reminding them of the speed limit.

Their details are recorded at police HQ but no further action is taken.

I can assure you L Muffett’s friend was recorded by a police camera and not us.

Now to answering the questions in last week’s letter.

We are all fully police trained and before we are allowed to go out with the group we have to complete a form and forward it to Norfolk Constabulary together with a copy of a CRB.

We are not allowed to go where we like before we can go to an area this is fully checked by the police to see if this is safe.

The camera is calibrated by the police authorities.

As stated before we are not involved with court cases.

I think your reader must have been out with his eyes closed as we do operate in wind and rain, I must admit not snow. The police will not allow us to go out after dark.

I can assure you we are not paid a penny for our services, in fact we are all out of pocket having paid for our own motor expenses telephone calls, and stationery etc. We feel that we are proving a service to the general public and if we can make people realise that speed kills we are more than satisfied.

In conclusion I would like to invite L Muffett and any readers to our next meeting which is on Tuesday, July 11 at St Pauls Church commencing at 7.30pm. Or even better come along and join our group.

BRENDA HAMMOND

Chairman, NYRSG

We must stand together for the nation

With everything that is happening at the moment why does a political party leader peddle their views trying to upend the country’s leading party with their crazy notions.

There is a time and a place for disagreement, but now is neither the time or the place as we move in to these worrying times of Brexit negotiation.

It is not possible to hand over the reins of these two horses hoping everything will run smoothly. Do not let the world see what a mess could befall our country with this bickering over power sharing, showing ourselves as unstable.

Would it be far better to get to where we are heading before we worry about who is going to lead us when we get there.

May I say “country first”. It is up to us. We have earned the title Great Britain, now let’s hold on to it.

JACK DYE

Gonville Road,

Gorleston

Dangerous walls remain a problem

Either through administration indifference or incompetence, the killer walls at George Street are still attracting more youngsters.

Hopefully before it is too late they will also attract those whose duty it is to resolve this situation.

Would we be better served if we emulated the higher levels of government and referred to “servants”?

DAVID KING

Falcon Court,

Great Yarmouth

Our navy helps all around the world

Our part of East Anglia has strong links to the sea and its ships. Remember Horatio Nelson, perhaps the greatest sailor ever to sail the world’s oceans, secured our freedom that we still enjoy today.

As you would expect the navy of Nelson’s time has changed and evolved.

But the values and traditions to which Nelson was its most significant author lives on in the embodiment of Britain’s latest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

In every aspect this splendid ship is huge with a displacement weight of 650,000 tonnes and the length of three football pitches. She is soon to be joined by a sister ship HMS Princes of Wales.

These two ships represent Britain’s future in a modern and rapidly changing world, a different world where Britain can and must play its part, alongside our Nato partners, bringing order and humanitarian aid to people less fortunate than ourselves.

However these two aircraft carriers represent a new role for Britain and come at a combined cost of £6.2bn - at the inevitable price of MOD resources, planes, tanks, helicopters and service personnel.

In the mid 1950s due to the threat posed by Soviet Russia, the British navy had a very different compliment of resources at its disposal.

As well as 19 aircraft carries, the British navy possessed five battleships, 24 cruisers, 82 destroyers, 180 frigates, 57 submarines, three fast minelayers, 195 mine sweepers and numerous small craft and auxiliaries.

Today the navy comprises 77 commissioned ships in total, only 19 of which can be described as significant surface combatants, together with four Polaris nuclear submarines.

We believe that people of this sceptered isle are truly blessed. Our maritime defence has throughout history been important, and in two world wars crucial to this country’s survival.

We are a small nation always fighting above our weight when engaged in world conflicts, but as its heart we Brits are still the country of Nelson’s indomitable courage and spirit.

JIM MITCHELL Famona Road,

Carlton Colville

Summer show was best we have seen

Christmas seems long past now, but my wife and I have only just had the benefits of our Christmas present given to us by our granddaughter.

This was theatre tickets to the Gorleston Pavilion. We enjoyed this present by attending a production of the Summer Laughter Show 2017 at this fine theatre.

We have attended just about every active summer show at that theatre for well over thirty years. We have enjoyed most of them, but the production there this summer outshines everything we have seen at that theatre for very many years.

We attended a matinee performance which had an enthusiastic but far from full house. That made absolutely no difference to the entertainment provided as all of us were treated to a highly professional excellent skilled performance.

Top of the bill were Nigel Boy Syer, still an highly accomplished musician, and Olly Day with his quick wit and good voice.

They were once again in their usual cracking form.

Having watched these summer shows for so many years we have seen Andy Pelos develop from a minor role into a top class singer and performer and he now provides a good substantial act in his own right.

However for me this year’s dancers were my very real stars as they were absolutely outstanding.

However nothing in life is ever totally perfect and parts of this show for me were completely ruined by the vast and over excessive use of background noise.

These deafening acoustics needed to be turned down a few decibels, as at times any item performed on stage by a cast member was quite drowned out.

The other incident that I would not recommend for giving much enjoyment came when a smoke generator hid the cast from our view for a time.

These are but two small blemishes on what was a brilliant show and one that I would recommend to everyone.

For me is was so good that I may even go a second time to attend the final charity evening put on by this excellent company, however if that happens I will make sure to bring a set of ear plugs with me for the occasional ear splitting item.

BRIAN E CALLEN Busseys Loke,

Bradwell

Thank you for help after I was mugged

I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped me after someone tried to mug me last week. To the people in the pet shop in Victoria Arcade and the town centre warden who came to help so quickly, the police for their support and the members of the public who have visited my tombola stall outside Poundland after hearing what happened. Thank you for all you have done at this difficult time.

TONY WARD

Gorleston

1940s event was very well organised

I was very surprised to read the complaining letter in last week’s Mercury, “1940s day did not deliver promise”.

My family and I spent just under three hours at the fair, beginning with the excellent, poignant and well thought out civic service. We thoroughly enjoyed the music by Great Yarmouth Brass and the Broads.

The stalls were informative. Dad’s Army, the air raid warden, “Bomber Harris” and “Churchill” were all very impressive.

We were fortunate to have booked on the coach tour of the defences of the town, which was led with knowledge and enthusiasm. We were easily able to follow the signs to the Minster to view the exhibition and have a cup of tea and cake. The bells of the Minster floating over the Market Place ringing a peal was evocative.

The people we talked to seemed happy and were enjoying it. I did have the opportunity to talk to one of the organisers who told me it had been very difficult to get organisations and groups interested in the event. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but please beware of any volunteers, who are required to run such an event, being put off by complainers.

Charlie Palmer

Email

Theatre show produced the goods

We had the pleasure of going to see a performance of A Rainbow of Music performed by Great Yarmouth Schools with friends at the Britannia Theatre on June 30.

The entire performance was fantastic, extremely well co-ordinated, emotional at times and it was a sheer pleasure to watch the energy and talent emitted from everyone involved in putting the show together. The volume of enthusiasm for what was obviously a passionate and enjoyable two hours was truly awe inspiring. Congratulations to you all, you should be very proud of yourselves.

GARY AND JULIE

Kilbrannan Guest House

Sledgehammer to crack a nut

I read Tony Harris’s letter (30 June) about the possible overreaction of the authorities and I do tend to agree with him, but feel it is all a case of different perceptions.

On the face of it Joseph Prentice has been exemplary in his altruism for raising money for very worthwhile projects and deserves praise but of course his school sees it differently and rules are rules.

But they should be tempered with real understanding and not so draconian because I agree with Tony Harris that his former hairstyle could rightly be perceived as being just as extreme.

The other scenario he alludes to about the man jailed for brandishing scissors is again a matter of perception and interpretation.

This again appears to be a sledgehammer cracking a nut, but again we cannot have children for whatever reason being threatened. I feel though he actually did not mean to cause trouble. The sentence passed seems harsh but hopefully he will receive help in prison to deal with his addictions.

John Cooper also has a different perception of our MP Brandon Lewis and his modus operandi in connection with his constituency.

Again on the face of it, it is beneficial for Great Yarmouth to have a real presence in government and hopefully he can put our case strong and validly to the powers that be. But the other case is that his constituents rightly or wrongly feel rather abandoned by their MP who naturally does have to spend a great deal of his time in London.

Now with his new role of Minister for Immigration, it is to be profoundly hoped that he does not take on board all the negative aspects around immigration that Theresa May has always expounded.

The EU nationals in our area who work hard and benefit our community need nothing less than assistance and help in these worrying and disturbing times.

I caught the debate instigated by Peter Aldous Conservative Member of Parliament for Waveney on the roll out of Universal Credit in Lowestoft, who are experiencing similar problems to Great Yarmouth.

I was very impressed by his consummate knowledge and empathy for his constituents. So you see I have a somewhat different perception, but who is right is the sixty four thousand dollar question.

JUDITH A DANIELS

Winifred Road,

Cobholm

New kerbs are waste of our money

What a complete waste of tax-payers money installing raised kerbs in the High Street.

During business hours you are lucky to even reach 20mph and the one placed outside Copelands is a danger.

Will the councillor/councillors who came up with this brainwave make themselves known so they can be removed at the next election?

V Clark

Gorleston

Town’s streets are a horror to see

I feel I have to write to your letters pages expressing my horror at the state of Yarmouth’s streets.

I have just returned from a very pleasant week in Eastborne and the cleanliness of the town and streets is a real joy.

They wash the roads and pavements each day with pressure washers and there is no sign of bird mess like our streets and market place has.

Why can’t the council see how downhill the town has gone.

Wake up Yarmouth before we have the worst name of all the seaside resorts in the country.

JUDITH HAMBROOK

Martham