Chris White

Black Diamond Bay

Eastgate

Rudston

YO25 4UX

Dear Editor,

Your statement in the December issue of the Newsletter dissociating the Rudston Newsletter from some of the views expressed in "Crossland’s Column" was, I think, entirely necessary. The Column consists of a strange mixture of Parish Council news and Mr. Crossland’s' "flippant" [his own admission] opinions on issues of no concern to any Parish Council.

Now, anybody is, of course, entitled to their opinion on anything, but I suggest a more appropriate place to express them publicly would be in the letter pages of the "Tabloid Press" rather than in a Village Newsletter.

A brief account of Parish Council meetings by the Clerk is a welcome addition to the Newsletter, as are contributions by any other local clubs or groups. What are surely not required in this context are the personal views of the contributor on a breathtaking range of subjects. Not a month goes by without Mr Crossland giving us the benefit of his views on 'travellers,’ 'foreigners,’ ethnic minorities, disadvantaged young people, Government policies etc. and all written in such a way as to assume anyone reading such views is bound to agree with them! Well Mr Crossland, it may surprise you, but no, I don't agree with your opinions on these sensitive subjects, nor do any of the people in Rudston I have discussed them with.

I accept that it is not within the remit of an Editor to censor any articles submitted for publication, but surely some editing would be in order when a contribution strays into territory unsuitable, or not connected, to the subject matter of the piece.

Yours sincerely,

Back in late '99 my cousin and I used to come through to the village from Burton Agnes on 50cc trials bikes (trying to get somewhere with the local teenage girls was the agenda) but I’m sure we caused a lot of nuisance riding round late at night on those noisy wasp like bikes! I’m now almost 23 and those days are long gone, but after stumbling across the newsletter archive by accident and reading about past problems with youths, I realised I maybe had a bit to do with it, so I do apologise! Although the ones who came from Burton Fleming always caused the trouble, we were just there to ‘pull.’

Anyway, aside from my miss-spent teenage days, I was just wondering what the history is of the bunker/air raid shelter up in the woods above Rudston? I came across it all those years ago (we probably weren’t supposed to be up there) and I have wondered what it was ever since. I noticed the remains of other buildings up there too. I had a look on this website which charts all installations for the defence of Britain http://www.britarch.ac.uk/projects/dob/index.html but cant find anything about it, any help would be appreciated, just to satisfy my curiosity!

Whilst appreciating the contact with Rudston via the village newsletter accessed through the website, I feel the need to make a comment on Crossland’s Column. If this is the Parish Council’s news column then surely comments politically correct or otherwise should not be included, a separate section for such comments if necessary should be created.

In addition I find the "Say Something" website has no referral to catering for the needs of the "socially excluded" but is a tool through which youngsters from rural areas can have their views listened to.

I am in no way criticising the Newsletter, merely voicing an opinion on how news and views are expressed.