Dear Editor,

Would you please allow me space in the Journal to thank everyone who came to our Paulton pensioners get together at Paulton Scouts Hall on July 25. A very enjoyable afternoon was had by all.

A very enjoyable time was had by all involved, as we enjoyed a few games of bingo, Play Your Cards Right and had a raffle raising funds for the Somerset Air Ambulance.

Dan's Ice Cream also came to the Hall and provided everyone with delicious ice cream.

Our next get together is on Friday, September 5, at 2pm, where we will be having a good old fashioned sing-song with Golden Oldies, so make sure to come along and choose your favourite songs and have wonderful afternoon. Everyone is welcome to join in.

Shandy and friends

Paulton

Dear Editor,

Fifteen years ago I visited the city of Bath and took a trip to your town of Midsomer Norton.

I felt I had to write to you and give my impression Midsomer Norton 15 years after my last visit, after I returned last week.

Getting off the 172 bus from Bath where I was staying, I was met with shock horror and disappointment. Gone was the lovely River Somer that flowed freely through this beautiful town with ducks and fish.

I remember sitting and taking in the beauty of the river and town for a whole afternoon, lapping up the river and its surroundings in the sun, not wanting to leave but promising to revisit one day.

Instead, after returning 15 years later on a hot and sunny day, I was presented with what I now call a ditch full of overgrown weeds and perhaps a trickle of water just about seen through the jungle, where I was present to watch plenty of takeaway wrappers, boxes and rubbish strewn amongst it all.

No fish, no ducks and no river.

Wow, such a lovely town spoilt by the monstrously high overgrowth of weeds and the rubbish, and there is no beautiful river anymore.

I was so disappointed and felt that Midsomer Norton had let me down as a tourist 15 years later.

What on Earth have you created? Let me tell you that it does not look appealing and it looks like a dump! Has your town council gone crazy?

This absolutely ruins the look of the town.

Rivers are to be seen and make towns look beautiful for everyone to enjoy. I really could not believe this.

On the bus stop, a local gentleman who has lived here all his life told me that the appearance of the town was meant to be improved by officials at Midsomer Norton town council, but everyone in the area hated it.

For the sake of your town and locals who are born and bred here, bring back the glory of the original river I came to admire many years ago. No more overgrown weeds, just a free flowing river which was loved by myself and the locals.

Wake up town council and smell the coffee - remove the eyesore.

If I hate it, how many other visitors think the same when they visit your town and decide not to visit again?

Would I return once again? Not if the river remains like this.

After a coffee at the former cinema and a visit to the supermarket, I picked up the Midsomer Norton & Radstock Journal and 25 minutes later, I boarded a bus and left Midsomer Norton for Wells, feeling, sad, disappointed and let down, not wanting to stay as in my last visit.

Blair McAlistaire

Edinburgh

Dear Editor,

In response to Jim Sokol’s letter and his “last word on the topic” (over 500 actually)… I don’t “detest” Trump or maintain that Farage is a Fascist but I do question their behaviour and stance on a number of issues.

His second stroll down memory lane: JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Clinton, Cameron, Osborne etcetera gets us nowhere. I would like to see politicians in power who seek to get people working together…not descending into factionalism. Neither of the main parties, nor Reform, were honest enough to say at the last election that to achieve the necessary improvements they were proposing, taxes would need to increase.

Result…the mess we are in now. We need to face up to reality. But I would still rather be living in the UK than in the USA for reasons too numerous to mention.

Yours sincerely,

Sandra Jones

Old Cleeve

Dear Editor,

Pakistan’s monsoon season always brings heavy rain, but this year’s storms have been unusually intense. Rare cloudbursts have triggered flash floods in the northwest, sweeping through mountain villages and causing widespread destruction.

Local communities are used to monsoon rains, but the intensity and speed of these cloudbursts caught people off guard. Tens of thousands of people are affected.

At ShelterBox, we specialise in emergency shelter and have responded to flooding in Pakistan before. We have a team in the country with another team arriving in Islamabad in the coming days to work with Islamic Relief Pakistan (IRP) on how best to support people displaced.

We’re getting ready to respond with emergency shelter, which families urgently need. We have shelter and other essential items available in Pakistan and Dubai so we’re ready to respond in these moments, given how vulnerable the country is to climate change as extreme weather becomes more frequent and more intense.

It’s peak monsoon season and more heavy rain is expected. We’ll be looking at shelter repair kits, which include items like tarpaulins and rope, so people can make temporary repairs to damaged homes. People also need items like water filters, water carriers, and mosquito nets, especially with the increased risk of disease after flooding.

To support, or find out more, visit shelterbox.org

Haroon Altaf

Regional Director at ShelterBox

Dear Editor,

A new survey commissioned by the NSPCC has found that four out of five parents in England believe that it is unacceptable to use physical punishment on a child.

Our survey found that there was strong support (59 per cent) for the law to be changed and bring an end to children receiving physical punishment.

We believe that this shows that current legislation around physical punishment is out of step with public attitudes.

The NSPCC is calling on the government to use the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to end physical punishment against children in England for good.

Sincerely,

Emma Motherwell

NSPCC local campaigns manager

South West & Channel Islands