National pride has disappeared (From Gazette & Herald)

National pride has disappeared

I WRITE this on St George's Day, which turned out to be just the kind of day which Robert Browning was thinking about when he wrote those oft-quoted words: "Oh to be in England, now that April's there." Being my anniversary, my two sons came over and took me out for lunch, and afterwards we had a tour round by Rosedale and into Kirkbymoorside to admire our wonderful scenery with its long lush valleys and dramatic hills.

In Kirby, I met, quite by accident, Mrs Gladys Marshall who, like me, had been taking a look at Kirby market. Mrs Marshall and her husband and son had lived in Newbiggin, Malton, by coincidence in the same house I had lived in with my mum and dad before the war and afterwards, so we had something in common. What else we had in common I wasn't aware of until she said: "It's my birthday today." To which I was able to respond that it was mine, too. Coincidence number two. You'd never believe it, 92 summers. With her slim figure and smart trouser suit she'd pass for a young 75 any day. A late happy birthday, Gladys.

The fact that it was England's national day wasn't very apparent as we motored around. The flags of St George were conspicuous by their absence - it seems our national pride has all but disappeared. Happily, some of the churches fly the flag of England, I only passed by Old Malton to take any notice, but St Mary's never lets us down. The local authority and other official buildings, which should set an example, just don't.

Meanwhile, the flag of Vespasian continues to fly from Malton's town hall. Under him, Christian persecution started, his son being the worst persecutor we have known. Why the district council doesn't show a bit of national pride and at least fly the flag of St George on this day, and the several other days allocated for this purpose, as well as those set aside for the Union Flag, is hard to understand. To continue flying the flag of a pagan conqueror is contemptible, to say the least. I realise that it wasn't the council which initiated this shameful affair, but it bears the responsibility for allowing it to take pride of place over our English town. The Vespasian flag is long overdue for relegating and replacing with our own proper flag.

I always read the FOCUS leaflet which comes through my letterbox now and again. Whilst there are often things with which I can agree, I do feel this last issue tends to have a bit of confused thinking written into it. The first item refers to Tory and Labour support for a county rate increase, with the announcement that the Liberal Democrats abstained from voting. Nothing very helpful about that - to me it indicates that they were undecided. To be against something, you have to show that you mean it, and vote against it. Abstaining is just nothing.

In their comment they complain about running the council on dogmatic political lines, which is not what local government is about. I agree. Yet earlier they claim that a LibDem-controlled council will do such and such. Some confusion here, I fear. However, I'm not being political, just a little critical, perhaps, and the news they give which suggests a possible merger of Ryedale with Scarborough and Hambleton is worrying to say the least. Here I can see Ryedale's reserves just disappearing, like the York fiasco. I hope the LibDems and, in fact, everyone else, will oppose this in the strongest way possible. We've had enough 're-organising' in the last 20 years to last for the next half-century.

FOCUS does right in exposing the rip-off by sections of the retail trade, and of the meagre return the agriculturalists get for their efforts. What amazes me is the difference in prices in the same superstores from one local town to the next.

I passed at least two boarded-up shop windows in Malton this week. Even the local police headquarters had its glazed noticeboard smashed and it has had to be replaced with a printed affair. Can't this problem, which continues with regularity, be tackled and curtailed before this town starts to look like a disaster area, which it is already starting to do?

A letter from West Yorkshire tells of an old friend's accident in on his electric tricycle-wheelchair when the brakes failed on a steep hill. He ran into the back of a stationary parked car, going through the rear screen, receiving facial cuts and breaking his knee-cap, and, at 94, this isn't a very welcome occurrence. However, a tough 94-year-old, he's out of hospital now and quite firmly states that he's "noan-bahn" to ride on a trike again. The expression obviously means that he's not going to - and I've heard it used many times before. Where did this originate?

Actually said in court:

Q. How old is your son, the one living with you?

A. Thirty-eight, or 35, I can't remember which.

Q. How long has he lived with you?

A. Forty-five years.

Updated: 13:58 Wednesday, May 07, 2003