So much interesting detail in Betty statue
I RECENTLY went to see the statue of Betty Campbell.
I must say I was impressed by the skill of the sculptor Eve Shepherd in capturing the essence and majesty of Betty and her work. The visual effect is stunning, and my senses were tested at various levels. I spent an age just finding distinct parts of Betty’s story and her connection with so many images. I needed to go back repeatedly to find yet more interesting aspects I missed the first time. Some of the young children’s eyes seem to tell a tale or two and the hidden faces kept the old grey matter ticking in working out who they were and why they were there.
I think Robert Thomas’ bronze sculptures in Queen Street are equally captivating, especially Nye Bevan leaning forward to no doubt make his point.
I certainly prefer to see the representation of ordinary industrious people who have achieved so much from such humble and usually oppressed positions. Compare this to the wealthy philanthropists, royals and celebrities whose images pop up everywhere in promoting their own self-importance. These superficial icons have made little difference to the lives of ordinary people and yet are peppered with wealth and honours. Let us have more statues and plaques of people like Betty and Nye.
Bob Jenkins
Canton, Cardiff
Battery technology bound to improve
IN REPLY to Mrs B Peters’ letter to the Echo (“Baffled how electric cars will be charged”, November 25), I dare say that you, like me, do not have a petrol/diesel pump outside your front door.
Like most of us we usually have to drive our cars/vans/ lorries to the nearest (or favourite) petrol/diesel pumps to fill up the tank.
At present, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are few and far between. However, the number of charging stations will increase (probably at an exponential rate) over the next 15 years or so.
While it may be true that some of the present EVs have an operational range of not much more than 150 miles, it is highly likely that over the coming years (by as early as 2025) the operational range of lower priced EVs will have a range in excess of 250 miles – on a single full charge.
Future batteries will be able to store more electrical energy and will have a shorter charging time – probably a full charge time of about 15 minutes. Tesla already has an electric car model that can do in excess of 600 miles on a single charge; however, this particular model is extremely expensive and only available in the US.
Battery technology is improving in leaps and bounds. The cost of manufacturing EV batteries will significantly reduce (by using cheaper, easily obtainable, material). Through economy of scale the cost of EVs will also reduce.
Millions of new EVs are not going to appear on our roads overnight. It is likely to take about 20 years before all fossil-fuel vehicles disappear from our roads and are replaced by EVs.
Brian Hayes Bassaleg, Newport
WRU doesn’t care about booze culture
I AM amazed that it has taken so long for it to be recognised the immensity of the problem caused by excessive drinking at the Principality
Stadium.
For much of my life I have been a loyal supporter of the Welsh rugby team and attended almost every match but, about 10 years ago, I could no longer stand the incessant disruption to my viewing of the games by drunken so called fans.
I had become accustomed to attendees around me talking relentlessly during the game, and on one occasion I asked a group who had continually chatted throughout the first half of a compelling match what the half-time score was. Not one of them knew the score nor which country was leading at half time. Such distractions are not uncommon but the relentless drinking and the disgraceful consequences that persist in every game I attended because of this became too much.
During one international match I was obliged to stand up out of my seat 64 times during the game to allow boozing pigs either to go to the toilet or go for more ale, returning with their purchases and often spilling it over the genuine and embarrassed people trying to watch the game. I witnessed one male sat next but one to me consume 14 pints of beer. It was utterly shameful. He was so intoxicated at the end of the game that he simply laid himself flat beneath a line of seats and supporters were obliged to try to dodge around him to leave the stadium.
I expressed my disgust in a letter to the WRU about my experience and received no response. In truth, the WRU didn’t care.
We have absolutely nothing to be proud of relating to our support of the national team at the Principality Stadium and if this is what it takes to make money then let’s give up playing rugby altogether.
Gareth Newman
Cardiff
Repair work is so dear these days
MANY older people own their homes because they made sacrifices to pay for them.
My Dad bought a house in the 1960s by us not having a car, any holidays, let alone foreign ones, new furniture and so on. Today many over-70s struggle to pay oneoff repair bills even if just managing with normal living costs. Builders and tradesmen now want a lot more money to do even simple jobs.
You could formerly usually find a painter, electrician or plumber who would probably arrive on a bike and charge a fair price. Now many are contracted out and arrive in a brand new van so the cost of all this goes on your estimate plus the iniquitous VAT.
I had a cracked light socket in a ceiling. Got a firm in who quoted me nearly £200 for a job which would have taken their electrician about 15 minutes. Yes, I know they have to travel but so did the man on the bike. To repair a leaking gutter plus remove moss another guy charged me £500 for two hours’ work. That’s more than the Prime Minister gets.
There is zero help from the Government whose stance is just take out a loan or remortgage your house. Money doesn’t grow on
The visual effect is stunning, and my senses were tested at various levels
Bob Jenkins Canton
trees. Fair enough but when are they going to start recovering the billions of pounds embezzled from the taxpayer by false furlough claims?
They claim OAPs are lucky to benefit from the triple lock but a tiny percentage of very little is still zilch. The rise has almost been wiped out by the domestic fuel increase alone and inflation is rocketing.
We are not all in this together when Geoffrey Cox MP can earn nearly a million pounds for three weeks’ work in a tax haven on top of his parliamentary salary, although I assume that he will have to pay tax on his fee in Britain.
Ron Price
Cwmbran
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