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12 • Visit us @ www.ChampNews.com S The Champion • Wednesday 27 June 2012Hospital staffare the bestIhadanoccasiontoringtheparamedicsat5.30am one recent Tuesday morning.Within five minutes they were here and Iwas in A&E in Southport.Ihadthebesttreatment.Iusuallyleavewithmyarmsblackandbluewhen they take blood. This time I just leftwith a pinprick.The nurse made my breakfast of toast withstrawberry jam and a lovely weak blackcoffee – it was the best everCan I please thank all the staff throughyour paper for their kind attention it reallywas simply the best.Why people complain I don’t know, I haveused that hospital a lot and always beenpleased with everything.Mrs Mary Houghton, (89)Don’tmind us!Ducks stroll past aparty of VIPs as theywait to get on withthe officialceremony torelaunch a restoredbarge on the Leedsto Liverpool canal atBurscough Wharflast weekend.Picture by MartynSnape.Code: 1051560.LETTERS to the EditorRe: the letter concerning motorcyclists ridingtoo fast on the Coastal Road (Champion, June20).This letter is typical of the narrow mindedviews some people hold which do nothing toadvance the levels of safety on our roads andwhich are totally unbalanced.Most motorcyclists try to comply with the lawand improve their riding skills all the time.There is nothing wrong in overtaking a slowermoving vehicle when it is safe to do so, asdescribed in the advanced motorcycle driversmanual.Many car drivers are unaware of the ease withwhich a motorcycle can overtake because ofit’s quick response to the throttle.And riders overtake so they can have a betterview of the road ahead and are less likely to bein a position where their safety may bePICTURE of the weekNothing wrong with motorbikesovertaking slow moving vehiclescompromised. One reason it appearsmotorcyclists are going fast is the sound a bikemakes whilst accelerating.On our overcrowded roads all motorcyclistshave to be fully alert and ready for all theeventualities.They have to ride defensively all the time toprevent the likelihood of them being involvedin accidents in which it is usually the rider whois killed or badly injured.As for speeding, I suggest the letter writerstands at the junction of Formby bypass withthe Coastal Road and observe how many carsare going well above the speed limit of 30mph.So please try to take a more balanced view,there are bad eggs in every basket!Rob Winward,Motorcyclist, pedestrian and car driverwww.champnews.com/pixonlineMemories ofmam ticklingthe ivories(Re: One Man And His Dog column ‘PianoLessons Hit a Bum Note with Me’ by JimSharpe).IenjoyJimSharpe’swritingsofhisjourneys through life and associate myselfwith the eras described.How I yearn for those past innocent days –one of his topic’s was about his failure tolearn to play the piano and brought backmemories of my childhood in Bootle. It wasduring the bombing and I was lucky tosurvive in tact with my mam and dad.Everything was hard.My mam’s family lived in Orrel Park and wewere bombed out and moved from there toGordon Avenue with a dairy delivering milk.So part of our lives would be spent up atgrandma’s house and, of course, the belovedpiano that my mam spent hours on withmusic sheets of the day.Eventually, just after the war, we got ourown piano.Imusthavebeenabout10–mamgotaprivate tutor to come to our house to teach –and I tried my best but, unfortunately,nothing was to ever go beyond the‘Bluebells of Scotland’ and ‘Chopsticks.’So much for my mam’s enthusiasm and theadded cost of lessons.Istartedtomarkthenotesofthepianowith pencil as that did not work either.IwasnevergoingtobeaWinifredAtwellwith Twelfth Street Rag!Iwasgivenupon.We moved to Southport in the late fiftiesand mam lived with us, still playing thelatest of tunes of the day, God bless her.In 1982 I lost my mam.Her music is still with me even though Ihave kept this music in a cupboard.Sometimes I will sort through it to bringback those musical times that don’t existanymore.It can still bring a tear but I wouldn’t swapmy frugal innocent life for any of today’sriches.Just maybe one thing – how I wish that Ijust might have inherited a passion formusic as my mam wished for me.If there is a heaven then my dear mam willstill be tickling those ivories as I write – Ihope.All the best Jim, I will keep on reading yourarticles.Council duodeserve an awardMr Eddie Robbo and Mrs Elaine Cookson arethe best two council workers Sefton Councilhas ever had.Both are very good at their jobs, veryhelpful, good with people and keepeverywhere clean and tidy.Come on Sefton Council, give these twopeople an award.Keep up the good work.AproudSouthportresident,Name suppliedFestival was notin town centreIamaSouthportretailerandIhavebeenveryimpressed by the move of local businesses, i.ethe Mary Portas bid, etc, to try to create a retailrevolution in the town.However I am totally confused about thedecision to move the food and drink festival outof the town centre.Surely the whole idea of events such is tobring people into the town. By holding thisevent on Princes Park it had the opposite effectand drew people away from the town itself.PWood,BirkdaleSimpler tax code would ensureeveryone pays their fair shareBritain’s increasingly complicated tax codecreates loopholes which those with cleveraccountants can exploit, and means that HMRevenue and Customs has to focus onadministering dysfunctional rules rather thanchasing those who break them.That is why Ed Miliband is right when he sayswe need the Government to do more than saythis extreme tax avoidance is wrong, they needto change the rules so it is harder, riskier andless worthwhile. With simpler taxes that applyJean Dandy,Southportthe same single rate to all income, fromshareholders’ dividends to workers’ wages,we can ensure everyone pays no more or lessthan their fair share.Acomprehensiveoverhaulofourtaxsystemis now vital not just to create the conditions forstronger economic growth, but also to restoreits legitimacy.Matthew Sinclair,Director of the TaxPayers’ AllianceWrite to the Editor atClare House, 166 Lord Street, Southport PR9 0QAEmaileditorial@champnews.comNewsdesk01704 392 400Websitewww.champnews.comGroup EditorMalcolm HindleALL WHITE TAXIS5377771108027LOWEST FARES IN TOWNDEBIT