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Put up a plaque to explain sculpture
The sculptor Michael Fairfax was employed at great expense by the developers of Newbury’s Market Street to erect the Two Rivers bronze sculpture on the side of the car park of the new development.
This represents an aerial view of the rivers Kennet and Lambourn as they flow through Newbury.
Like many of us, Mr Fairfax feels passionately about our local rivers, having grown up locally.
The shame is that, now the scaffolding and plastic wrapping have been removed, I suspect most people think the Two Rivers sculpture is a random squiggle.
It would be very helpful if there could be a plaque stating the name of the sculpture, to indicate what it is about.
Mr Fairfax was in favour of this move when I interviewed him for Kennet Radio.
I have written to West Berkshire Council with this suggestion. I hope it comes to fruition.
It is an enormous piece of bronze and it would be a terrible shame for it to be dismissed a crazy squiggle.
Paul Walter
Stanley Road, Newbury
Care more for Ratty and Toad than Tories
On Saturday, May 18, at the Corn Exchange a production of Wind in the Willows takes place with music by Edward Elgar, aimed especially at younger audiences
What could be more English than that? Especially with music from one of this country’s finest composers.
The reality is however that the Pang, which is thought to be closely associated to this story and is one of only 210 chalk streams in the world, is now polluted by raw sewage pouring into it at Hampstead Norreys.
It is a sickening sight, especially when you slow down so as not to splash through the ‘poo-nami’ as you drive through and the 4×4 behind starts blasting its horn.
The problem is that it is not just Lambourn and Hampstead Norreys, it is also the man-made flooding at the Northbrook Stream where there have been numerous floods into people’s gardens and WBC under the Conservatives ignored the inconvenient issue.
I worked in financial services and it took a long time for changes in the culture of the industry to occur, the problem is there has to be a political desire for strict regulation and I can see little desire in a Government that espouses deregulation.
Our streams need regulation and protection as well as our savings and investments.
We saw that in 2021 where the Government were faced with a proposal from the Duke Of Wellington that would limit the amount of sewage being pumped into rivers. Laura Farris was one of those who voted it down.
Personally, I would say there are more voters who want better governance for our rivers, streams and seas than voters who want effluent.
Ratty, Badger and Mole won’t get a vote in the forthcoming election, though I do think the spirit of Mr Toad was alive in Hampstead Norreys and well whilst honking his horn.
At the next election I hope voters care for Ratty, Badger, Mole and Toad more than a party that permits pollution.
Ian Hall
Ashampstead
We too have poor postal service in our street
In response to Lynette Edwell’s letter (Newbury Weekly News, April 11), the same thing is happening in Westwood Road, Newbury.
Mail deliveries are sporadic and unreliable, yet Royal Mail feels justified in increasing stamp prices.
The service never seemed to improve post-pandemic.
It must be worrying for people expecting hospital letters advising them of clinic and/or operation dates.
Diana Mudge-Davies
Westwood Road, Newbury
We had a poor deal with EU and paid dearly for it
In his letter of April 18, councillor Tony Vickers describes the effects of Brexit as “shameful”.
Far more shameful were (for instance) the neutralisation by national vetoes of the 2006 Bolkestein Directive on services and the 2004 Takeover Directive, in both of which the UK had a clear interest, the EU’s continued structural bias in favour of French farming and the German manufacturing, ratification of the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon (with its substantial transfer of powers to the EU) without national referenda, failure to control the flow of immigrants as they crossed EU territory towards the French coast, the open contempt with which Angela Merkel treated both David Cameron and Theresa May on their respective visits to her, and the failure by many European states to invest adequately in defence.
Since we left the EU, a recent enquiry by Le Monde has shown that 163 of the 704 MEPs have been involved in some form of inappropriate behaviour, corruption or fraud, and the EU has commenced legal proceedings against a British ban, for the purpose of safeguarding vulnerable seabird populations, on sand eel fishing in British waters.
In summary, we had a poor deal and paid much too much for it.
Fortunately, the French have begun to appreciate the role that the UK can play in restoration of a stable world order, which is now under such threat from Putin and others and is essential for our safety and prosperity.
They may conclude that a working relation with the UK may be as important to them as the relation that they have had with Germany which has controlled the EU up until now.
Anthony Pick
Andover Road, Newbury
We’re honoured by our Best in Business award
The Newbury Weekly News Best in Business Awards was such a special evening and we were so honoured to be awarded Charity of the Year as there are so many wonderful charities in West Berkshire delivering services for people in our community.
We are also indebted to everyone that supports the work we do to enable us to continue to reach those that need us in a timely manner.
Thank you newburytoday and all the supporters of these awards.
Time to Talk West Berkshire
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