Our dark town

HOW sad Malvern looks after dark.

Walking back to the car park in Edith Walk after the theatre it struck me how miserable the place looks now the dark nights are here.

Few shops have any lights on at all and Church Walk is positively dangerous.

Were it not for the estate agents and Italian restaurant the place would be as black as the ace of spades.

Negotiating the steps at the end of the passage would be difficult to say the least for anyone slightly infirm, and the place is a muggers’ paradise.

Surely the owners of Church Walk can afford a few lights – they are there, just not switched on!

One further grouse. While I have every sympathy for anyone disabled enough to be obliged to use a buggy, surely these should not be on the road.

Some time ago, there was a queue of traffic in Worcester Road caused by a gentleman cruising gently along among the cars and lorries. He was almost invisible to vehicles and a very real danger to himself and other road users.

One wonders what the insurance situation is?

Mike Downs Malvern

Charabanc idea

FOLLOWING the third anniversary of my move to Malvern I thought it high time that I underwent the rite of passage that is having a letter published in the Gazette, and what better topic than the suggestion that a cable car be constructed on the hills.

I’ll not linger over my judgement – it’s a terrible idea – but rather than get apoplectic giving full vent to my inner nimby I will instead propose an alternative that might well appeal to various constituencies, not least visitors and veterans.

The suggestion? A charabanc, in the manner of the imposing elongated vehicles of the 1920s, climbing the hills on pre-determined days of the year delivering its dozen or so occupants to a suitable vantage point where they can open its commodious boot, disgorging a picnic of some splendour to be consumed before a post-prandial descent.

The vehicle would be a custom project constructed by the Morgan Motor Company, running on electricity, and would normally reside at its factory as a testament to its coach-building, though in addition to the prescribed hill trips would also be available for private hire.

Provisions for the picnic would make full use of local produce.

Dr Tim White Malvern

See if they like it

I READ with interest Malvern’s possible twinning with Bagneres-de-Bigorre, the French spa town.

It can have escaped no one’s notice that the town has a cable car. What an opportunity for our Conservators to go over there and see how to build a cable car, and bring more badly needed business into this area. Furthermore, they would be able to see if people object to having the cable car in their area.

Bill Kovacs Malvern

Late arrivals

WHO was responsible for the total farce of some 20-30 latecomers being allowed in to the second half of the English Symphony Orchestra concert after the Elgar Violin Concerto had started?

I was appalled that this was allowed, and I would have deemed it entirely justified if all the musicians had stopped playing until order was restored.  This was the worst incursion I have witnessed in 27 years of concert-going in Malvern.

Also, Mr Bratby’s programme notes include a somewhat flippant remark to the effect that Brahms’ Third Symphony was “one of the few works other than his own that Elgar was willing to conduct”.  How, then, was he able to serve as chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra for several years before the Great War, or guest conduct several other orchestras?  Not only is this remark factually incorrect, but it also has no place in the programmes of an orchestra like the ESO!

Ian Morgan Malvern

Musical return

On October 8 I was among the appreciative audience who welcomed the return of the English Symphony Orchestra to Malvern Theatres after an absence of nine years for a concert of works by Brahms and Elgar. The orchestra played well under its principal conductor, Kenneth Woods, and the brilliant young Russian violinist, Alexander Sitkovetsky, gave a superb performance of the Elgar violin concerto that earned him a standing ovation.

It was a most enjoyable evening, and it is to be hoped that the orchestra will feature regularly in future concerts at Malvern Theatres.

Gerald Green Upper Colwall

Bar vandalism

THE decision to remove a 1980s bar from Croome Court, near Pershore, is an act of vandalism by the National Trust.

Why is the 1980s any less worthy of protecting than the 1880s?

In another 100 years will the things that are part of our lives now have all vanished?

Paul Chandler Droitwich

Save old hospital

IT is unbelievable that anyone could think of demolishing the old hospital in Landsowne Crescent, Malvern.

It was given to the people of Malvern by Cyril Dyson Perrins in 1911.

The Friends of Malvern Hospital was founded in 1948 for the purpose of providing items of equipment for the benefit of patients and staff.

Over the years subsequent committees worked tirelessly to do that. Patients who were happy with their treatment gave donations, and people left money in their wills.

There are so many former patients who loved the hospital, and want it to be retained.

The building is unique, and part of Malvern.

Come on, people of Malvern, say, “No”.

Sheila Young Chairman Friends of Malvern Community Hospital

No local apples

WITH 2015 having been a bumper year for English apples it seems more than a little remiss that supermarkets in Malvern appear to make virtually no effort to champion locally grown fruit. Worcestershire is famed for the quality of its produce, ranging from the Worcester Pearmain apple and Evesham asparagus to the iconic Worcestershire black pear.

With little regard to flavour or food miles, local shoppers are offered a limited range of English grown produce and rarely anything grown within this fair county.

RT Jones Malvern

Decent people

I WOULD like to draw your attention to an incident the other day that showed there are still decent people around.

My elderly father tripped and fell over a paving slab in Malvern Link, and within moments two couples raced to his aid.

In addition, staff from Handyman House also came to help offering aid and a seat in the store while the emergency services were called.

The paramedic was also very professional and gave my father a thorough examination.

I would just like to thank everyone who looked after my father in such a caring way.

Craig Kinsey Malvern