Fall in pub trade not due to ban
During a week's holiday in February this year at Playas de Americas, Tenerife, I visited three English pubs and an Irish one at least on four occasions.
All had live bands playing with outdoor displays encouraging people to enter.
The three English bars allowed smoking, while it was not allowed in the Irish pub.
On each occasion the English pubs were half full while the Irish bar was packed every night.
I think this spells it out clearly.
Proper English pubs and bars in this country have not suffered under the smoking ban.
Back street bars which attracted mainly smokers in the first place may have done.
The reason why pubs are empty and closing is because of the outrageous price of drinks in pubs and cheap supermarket booze.

Dave King, Leyland
(full address supplied)

Less talk, more action on improving our city
I can't say, as a Prestonian, that I am particularly proud of Preston at the moment. Take into consideration the Tithebarn project that has been in the pipeline for some 10 years and which must have cost a great deal of money in consultations, planning etc but so far has resulted in closed shops, the decline of a once brilliant market and no immediate prospect of anything but possibilities and maybes.
The uncertainty has reduced the morale of city shops and market traders. Alongside this are the overspendings on various projects and other financial ineptitudes which also include blunders by Lancashire County Council, as in the Parkwise saga.
There is not a bottomless pit of money. Council taxpayers have to be prudent with their money and expect councils to do the same.
In this time of belt-tightening, the powers that be should not be taking on projects they cannot afford, such as the Winckley Square
improvements.
It could be tidied up and made presentable at a fraction of the cost.
With a background like this I am not filled with a great deal of confidence for the Guild.
The fact that the city centre will be (if we are lucky) a building site, should be enough to set alarm bells ringing.
After all, we would not invite visitors to our home if we were decorating or having building work done.

A Hall, Fulwood, via email

Car quality the real reason for safety
Over the last 50 years or so, motor manufacturers have spent billions of pounds in an effort to improve all the safety aspects of their vehicles. As a result the brakes, steering, lighting, tyres, and even the exterior bodywork on a modern car, are unrecognisable compared to any older car.
All of this work by very clever
engineers was aimed at reducing injuries to drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
Their work was so good and effective that we now have lower casualty figures than ever before.
How soul-destroying it must be for these engineers, having done their job so well, for a politician in the shape of Jim Fitzpatrick, the Road Safety Minister, to claim credit.
In the LEP of July 1 he was quoted as saying: "We've cut the number of people killed or seriously injured each year by more than a third since the mid 1990s."
It is also reported that the drop in Lancashire has coincided with the increase of speed cameras. I think whoever it was who said that meant to say "coincidence".
The Treasury would have felt the pinch, but all I can say is: Think how much better the figures would have been without the cameras.

Peter Brown, Penwortham, via email

Speed humps don't slow everyone down
Last Friday I was travelling along Cromwell Road in the direction of Eastway, when a car raced past me on a speed hump.
This was then followed by another car which overtook me as I was approaching another speed hump.
I wonder if the minority of the people who campaigned to get the speed humps in Woodplumpton, and won - even though there was strong opposition - think they will really stop the few people they say speed through the village?
I rather think that the so-called speeders will probably think it is a game, as on Cromwell Road.

Ellen Moon, Tabley Lane,Higher Bartle

Shame of rubbish dumped in field
I live off Harewood Road in Deepdale and on Monday this week, a skip was placed on the playing field.
When I drove past in the afternoon, the skip had been removed and the rubbish dumped where the skip was.
I have rung both the council and Gateway but neither know anything. I think it is a disgrace.
They are always harping on about litter and then this
happens.
Someone should not only be held accountable but named and shamed.

Janine Norton, via email

Retro bands put on a great performance
The Zombies and the Yardbirds were maybe not the biggest groups to come out of the 1960s but at a recent concert at Preston Guild Hall they certainly put on a great show.
The latter opened with a tight set fusing hard rock with blues, ending with their biggest hit single For Your Love.
The Zombies opened the second half, featuring the evergreen Colin Blunstone, while Rod Argent played keyboards and supplied some great anecdotes of the '60s.
Even allowing for the small audience, it was good to see that the Zombies and Yardbirds are still going strong in a fickle
industry.

SI Briscoe, The Green, Ribbleton

Pet owners deserve animal hospital
There has been a lot said and printed lately about the status of Preston as a city.
I would like to speak out for all pet owners. When will the RSPCA "clinic" be converted or when will we get a proper pet hospital?
The RSPCA provides an excellent service, but it is limited and can offer no surgical procedures.
I had to use a private vet recently for a laboratory test for my dog and paid more than £100.
I love my animals and take good care of them. They are rescue
animals that someone else cast aside and are not a nuisance to anyone.
There are animal hospitals in both Liverpool and Manchester.
Proud Preston should have one too, to help us look after our furry and feathered friends.

Name and address supplied

GET IN TOUCH
I am looking for former workmates from the 1950s and 60s who worked in the cinema or theatre world in Preston.
I'm hoping to meet up with a few on Monday July 21, on the steps of the Old Vic on Fishergate around 11-12 midday.
I'm staying a couple of days in town and would appreciate
meeting any former friends or workmates.

Tom Dukes, via email (tom_dukes@hotmail.com)


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