Readers' letters - July 31: Travel by hovercraft

The LP addresses the particular problems of geography Preston suffers from, between the western Pennines and Irish Sea coast (Day the county came to a complete standstill, LP July 27). There is no alternative but to go north/south via Preston between Birmingham and Glasgow and beyond. It’s a problem that has been recognised for decades, as evidenced by the widening of the main railway lines several times in the 1800s and the construction of the first motorway bypass in the UK in the 1950s (or was it 60s?)New roads and/or railways will have a major environmental impact to resolve these transport demands. It is surely time for some ‘blue sky thinking’.The west coast is very poorly served from Merseyside to Cumbria.A train journey from Lime Street to Euston being much quicker than one to Barrow, via Preston.Rather than build new roads or rails, we could have a coastal hovercraft service from Liverpool Pier Head, stopping at Crosby, Southport, (Preston possibly), Lytham, Blackpool, Fleetwood (or Heysham), Morecambe, Grange-over-Sands, Ulverston and Barrow. The route could also be expanded to the tourist resorts of Rhyl and Llandudno in North Wales, for example.With their sandy shores, most of these places could construct terminals with far less environmental impact and cost than various new roads and bridges scarring our landscape. They would also enhance tourism and business travel opportunities between all these locations.Tarquin ScottPreston

nostalgiaWellington Road memoriesThe archive photo of Wellington Road, Ashton-on- Ribble (pictured inset, courtesy of Preston Digital Archive), featured the shop my parents ran as a butchers’, from 1938 to 1976 (LP Looking Back, July 26).The postcard-type photo looks like it has been taken in the early 1900s, when I believe it was a greengrocers. I have sent a photo taken around 1944 of my mother and a customer in the doorway. Unfortunately my father was conscripted into the army in late 1939, spending seven years away in Burma leaving my mother to run the shop (see today’s Looking Back).The lady stood with my mother is a Mrs Whiteside. Her son Eric some of your older readers may remember as the music master at Hutton Grammar School for many years.He also played the piano in the orchestra pit during the interval of the Salberg Players repertory plays at the Hippodrome theatre, which stood on the site now occupied by Wilkinsons on Friargate. He was one of life’s characters.The shop remained as a butchers until the 1990s , when it was eventually taken over by St Catherine’s as a very popular charity shop selling books.I have many happy memories of Wellington Roadand Ashton.Frank Schofieldvia emaildiscriminationAgeism is just as wrong Would the Lancashire Post print a letter that disparaged the legitimate, democratic vote of a person based on their sex, race, colour or sexual-orientation? Of course not. Then why does it print a letter that disparages a legitimate, democratic vote based on a person’s age (Too easy to blame EU for our problems, LP Letters, July 24) . Not just one person but a whole generation (I note that the authors of the letter fail to identify which generation, or age range, which means that they can insult as many people as they can).As a 61-year old who voted to leave the European Union, I have included myself in that imaginary generation so I can participate in an “honest debate”. I want to express my distaste for the ageist attitude of the correspondents the Lancashire Post chose to print. Similarly I wish to criticise the editorial policy of a newspaper that claims to have a tradition of accuracy and fairness. Not all old people voted to leave the European Union, so nil points for accuracy, and because you allow your correspondents to attack old people for being old, irrespective of how they voted, nil points for fairness.Printing the kind of letter you printed, merely reinforces the idea that it is acceptable to attack old people for the problems of the country: Brexit, too few houses, chaos in the NHS. The list goes on. Ageism is as wrong as any other form of discrimination and those who practise it should be held to account. Perhaps I can suggest a headline for you for this letter: Too easy to blame old people for our problems.Adrian Kay PrestonBREXITDisunited Kingdom

We are now the Disunited Kingdom of Great Britain. We are in the middle of a civil war of words, lies and hatred for each other – particularly among our MPs. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations with the other 27 nations in Europe, we will still be a Disunited Kingdom.Paul Mullervia email