Actually, we love where we live!
In HIs unflattering portrait of rochdale (Mail), richard Littlejohn fails to mention that, besides being the birthplace of singer Gracie Fields, it is where the modern Co-operative movement began, in toad Lane.
It is also the birthplace of the great victorian Liberal politician and statesman John Bright (1811-1889). rochdale was mentioned in the Domesday Book and its parish church of st Chad’s is more than 800 years old. Although Littlejohn equates the town with Blake’s ‘dark satanic mills’, it was referred to in the 1950s, on BBC radio, as possessing the loveliest town centre in the north of england. With its ancient parish church on wooded slopes overlooking its town hall square, it has one of the finest municipal buildings in the country. nestled in the foothills of the Pennines, the town is surrounded by pleasant countryside and areas of woodland. the Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket and former top cricket umpire John Holder are among its recent residents.
It is called a ‘Labour stronghold’, but nearly a quarter of the borough is assigned to Heywood and Middleton, currently a Conservative-held seat. All is not doom and gloom here.
ALAN WILD (churchwarden, Parish Church of St Chad), Rochdale, Lancs. As soMeone born and brought up in rochdale, I was angered by richard Littlejohn’s scathing remarks.
It is not the fault of rochdale that political elements choose to exploit its demographic to further their purposes. Great efforts have been made over the past few years to repudiate rochdale’s ‘dark satanic mills’ image. the town centre has been restored and the wonderful town hall likewise, to be officially reopened in March.
I never thought I would be moved to write in defence of rochdale. But as my late father used to say: ‘You never know what you’ll come to in a lifetime.’
VAL FITTON, Rochdale, Lancs. As A Mail reader for many of my 81 years, I have never read such nonsense as the Mail online article about Canvey Island in essex. this ‘hellhole’ was my home for more than 40 years and I still visit several times a year.
Yes, there are closed shops (has writer Isaac Crowson seen the shuttered shops in London’s West end?) and seafront entertainment sites with their shutters down. Why not take photos when the seafront is packed with families in the summer season? Canvey is a great place to live, as many residents would agree. It’s not perfect but nowhere is. the people are warm and friendly. they post photos of found items such as phones, jewellery and babies’ toys on Facebook and the owners are usually found. they offer items of furniture and other things free. voluntary groups of retired people maintain the graves in st Katherine’s graveyard, gardens near the seafront and a large area of the beach. Along the sea wall are paintings of the flood scenes of 1953 and of the famous Canvey blues band Dr Feelgood. Yes, there is some crime but in today’s world, where has none?