Sir,It was interesting to read Lorraine Wilson’s recent Friday article in the Courier (Cyclists need to be ‘legally safe’ on roads too, June 27) as it brought to mind a chat we had with two police officers a few weeks ago.
At the beginning of June my wife and I were over in Munich and one day, as we were wandering up the pedestrian area, we came across two officers on patrol.
I stopped to ask them if Germany had something like community service for minor offences and was told that they did.
They asked where we came from and if we were enjoying our stay when one officer left and stopped a lady who was riding her bicycle.
The remaining officer told me she was being reprimanded for riding her bicycle in a pedestrian area as it was not allowed in case of accidents.
“Many children and elderly people (my wife and I included) are in this area,” he told us.
He asked us about Perth and I more or less explained that the exact opposite was the case there and that, in fact, I had never ever seen a police officer reprimand anyone for riding a bicycle where they shouldn’t, in any part of Perth.
One other thing we noticed while there was that people always cross the road at a proper crossing point and only when the green man is lit. Unlike, for example, South Street in Perth.
I remember a friend once saying to me a few years ago when he returned from his first ever visit to Germany, “Where did we go wrong?”
Jack Alexander. Whinlatter, 2 Stormont Way, Scone, Perth.
Claims need to be looked at carefully…
Sir, Not long ago I received a publication from the Yes camp containing the claim that we have more pandas than Scottish Tories.
In the recent European elections, more than 230,000 Scots voted Conservative, according to official statistics.
So how come I have never even met one of the near quarter-million pandas that must be resident in Scotland, according to the Yes campaign comparison?
No doubt some Yes fanatic will point out, in between accusations of treason and death threats, that I should have known they meant Tory MPs but that is not what the pretend newspaper says.
And this raises another interesting, and I would say important, question how many more of the claims in the publication must the reader alter in substance to make them actually true?
ADF Maclean. 6 Clive Street, Dundee.
Made clear at election time
Sir, In Wednesday’s letters AM Scott made the bizarre statement that: “The UK Government has never put its opinion on the referendum to the UK electorate.”
The Conservatives, Liberal-Democrats and Labour parties make it clear at every general election that they oppose independence.
In Scotland in 2010 the public rejected independence by electing 53 out of 59 non-nationalist MPs.
Stewart Whyte. 25 Crombie Acres, Westhill, Aberdeenshire.
Bannockburn a great day out
Sir, Like Christina Oliver (letters, July 3), we too enjoyed Bannockburn Live. From the Clan Village, to the craft stalls, to the mediaeval village, we met so many interesting people keen to talk about their special interests in the battle, in the life of ordinary Scots of the period and in Scotland’s clans.
The re-enactment was both a colourful and stirring spectacle performed by re-enactors from numerous countries. These volunteers undergo rigorous training with weapons of the period so that they can act out scenes from our nation’s history for our enjoyment and education.
As for queuing we had a wait of around 20 minutes for the re-enactment and had taken the precaution of bringing our own picnic so no queuing for food all in all, a great day out.
K Young. 36 Dean Avenue, Dundee.
No regard for wild beauty
Sir, I refer to your article in The Courier, July 3, relative to the last-minute appeal by the firm hoping to develop a wind farm at Outh Muir, Cleish, and would suggest that the ire of the objectors to this proposed wind farm be directed to the owners of land in question who have either sold or leased the land in question to the developers, subject, no doubt, to the granting of planning consent.
It is obvious the persons or firm concerned have no regard for the beauty of wild, undeveloped land and their only concern, is monetary.
Allan Murray. 44 Napier Road, Glenrothes.