Helensburgh Advertiser letters page: May 21, 2020

To have your say in the Advertiser on any topic of local interest, just email your thoughts to editorial@helensburghadvertiser.co.uk or get in touch with us via the Send Us Your News section of this website.

Please try and keep your contributions as brief and to-the-point as you can, and to provide us with your name and address.

We also require a daytime contact phone number in case we need to check any details at short notice, though this will not be published.

Happy writing!

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As a Helensburgh local, I have been so amazed at the countless amount of people who have been involved in some way with helping others, completely unconditionally, during these unpredictable and scary times.

The acts of kindness towards each other have been shown in abundance and it really shows how a real community should operate. I sincerely hope that this feeling of unity is maintained well after this lockdown ceases.

The people I am worried about are the local business owners who have been unable to work to full capacity ­– and even worse, the ones who can’t trade at all facing a huge financial burden. This is where we, as a community, should show our loyalty as customers, because that is going to be essential in helping our local businesses and charities to prosper once more.

I keep reflecting on the town and its appearance during the dreary autumn and winter days, seeing empty shops closed due to hardship, which creates a sadness I find hard to describe. We could all do our little bit to avoid this bleak vision.

I’m no longer a business owner but I do still love Helensburgh and all the people I have met over the years ­– and that goes for the business community too. In Helensburgh we receive a much more personal service, that you wouldn’t get online or by travelling by train to Glasgow.

Yes, there are occasions when you are forced to shop elsewhere due to certain needs which are not offered by any local business. Regardless, local businesses in any town are obviously the backbone of the community, and as such we should be ready to support them back to prosperity as soon as this lockdown is lifted.

If I need a tyre, or I win the lottery and want a new car, I’d be off to see Stewart or Lorne at Autopoint.

If I need my shoes resoling, then Ian and his sons at SoS Key Cutters Shoe Repairs will get a visit.

If I need help with my health and fitness – which will have no doubt lapsed these past weeks – then I’d pop in and see Angie and her team at Fit for Life.

The list of local businesses and the services they provide is endless – and I don’t have a job or shares in any of them, so this is not a sales pitch, only my opinion.

We’ve also got to be so grateful to all our local medical services, and especially the GP surgeries, the chemists and all the people linked to this sector who have been overwhelmed and no doubt experiencing considerable stress – all for the greater good of the residents of Helensburgh.

Sorry if this rant has bored or offended anyone, but I love my local community and want it back and blooming as soon as possible.

Helensburgh has so much to offer – you just need to get involved. It’s a two-way street and this is why I believe the aforementioned actions will continue to enhance Helensburgh for the greater good of all.

This is something we do have some control over, and I hope that we will all play our part.

Colin Fitzpatrick, Helensburgh

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READ MORE: Readers' letters to the Helensburgh Advertiser: May 14, 2020

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I WRITE in response to John O’Brien’s letter (Advertiser Comment, May 14), in which he is critical of your weekly column written by Ruth Wishart (whom he refers to, quite discourteously, as ‘Wishart’).

He also claims, with no justification or evidence, that many share his views.

I merely wish to say that, in contrast to Mr O’Brien, I very much enjoy reading Ms Wishart’s contributions each week and invariably find them perceptive, informative and entertaining.

Long may her column continue.

Rob Irving, Church Avenue, Cardross

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READ MORE: Your letters to the Advertiser: May 7, 2020

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I HOPE Ruth Wishart wasn’t too upset after reading the letter from John O’Brien in last week’s Advertiser.

He seemed to think she was “a disgrace, peddling left-wing views, unopposed” and suggested that she should be dismissed from the Advertiser forthwith.

I, for one, love reading her column, where her humour, humanity and down to earth common sense make it one of the best and most enjoyable pages in the Helensburgh Advertiser.

Ruth, please continue with your weekly “Point of View”. The Advertiser would be sadly depleted without your words of wit and wisdom.

Maura McNally, Maitland Street, Helensburgh

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READ MORE: Helensburgh Advertiser readers' letters: April 30, 2020

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Mr O’Brien (Advertiser Comment, May 14) seem to have rather overreached himself in his ire against Ruth Wishart.

I can point out to him that Mrs Wishart has several times been opposed – and I am amazed that he accuses her of proclaiming left-wing views.

She certainly does draw our attention to social, cultural and political issues and what goes on in our local community. That is what journalists do.

It appears that Mr O’Brien only wants his conservative views to be voiced in the Helensburgh Advertiser.

I would suggest that to reflect our local community, all views, left, right and centre, need to be expressed.

We are thankfully a very diverse community and as such we need to be tolerant of one another. And Helensburgh is such a community.

I would have thought that as he has lived here for so long, Mr O’Brien would have discovered that by now.

I don’t by any means always agree with Ruth Wishart’s views, but I find her comments and gritty style refreshing. Long may she continue.

Berit Vogt, via email

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READ MORE: Your letters to the Helensburgh Advertiser: April 23, 2020

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Walking past a neighbour’s garden I froze into a state of shock and panic. I thought I’d seen a large poisonous snake emerge from a hollow tree stump only feet away.

Instantly I was back in my kitchen, in Bangkok trapped by a massive serpent which had taken up resident in a shopping bag. Fear replaced reason!

After what seemed a lifetime my body relaxed, my sight restored and I realised that what I had actually seen was a large colourful fungus growing out of the tree.

The brilliant sun and lapping waves had taken me back to the tropics. I was day dreaming!

Might we in Helensburgh and Lomond collectively positively day dream? What about a continuous 21st birthday party throughout 2021 – a celebration of all the area has to offer and enjoy?

Promote the stupendous heritage of the area. Starting point, the Rosneath Peninsula Heritage Trail. Two informative leaflets, compiled by A. Bray and R. Reeve, make the architecture come alive.

The Hill House, the fascinating Scottish Submarine Centre, the Helensburgh Outdoor Museum and the Mackintosh Club are among many historic attractions.

As far as festivals go, you name it, we have it: real ale; book; winter; Sea Change; music; art; and summer.

The idea of Helensburgh being the charity shopping capital of the world, which I aired in these pages last week, was well received.

A friend pointed out that cruise liners on the Clyde are a potential international market. So let’s embrace the Dunkirk spirit and encourage boat owners to provide return trips to tourists. Surely more enjoyable than floating in Rhu Marina.

Finlay Craig, Cove

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READ MORE: Helensburgh Advertiser letters page: April 16, 2020

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I’M writing to the Advertiser on behalf of the Gary Andrews Remember a Life charity.

I’m not looking for donations – I’m just looking to see if we can help anyone.

Our charity was set up help make a meaningful difference to the lives of people suffering with terminal cancer or another end-of-life illness.

Our financial help could make a significant difference. If you know of someone who could really benefit from our charity’s financial support, please get in touch. You can email Garyandrewsrememberalife@gmail.com or call 0771 441 9758.

We are a registered Scottish charity, number SC049610.

Kelly Andrews, via email

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READ MORE: Readers' letters to the Advertiser: April 9, 2020

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At the dawn of the nuclear age, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto warned us all: “Remember your humanity and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.”

That was back in 1955. Nobody listened. What did Albert Einstein known about the real world anyway?

Untold trillions were wasted on the nuclear arms race and unimaginable cruelty inflicted on our test victims - the Aborigines of Australia at Maralinga and Montebello, the victims of the USSR in Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, and of the USA, the Shoshone people of Nevada whose land is now permanently contaminated.

Add the long forgotten British servicemen used as human guinea pigs at Christmas Island, and the many other unnamed and unnumbered victims of our nuclear idolatry. Never mind all those we condemned to poverty and destitution by squandering our resources.

I had hoped that the global threat of Covid-19 might call us back to the ineluctable truth of the dilemma posited in the manifesto, but no. We press blindly on in the lunatic race to suicide.

While the rest of us were at home in lockdown, on Wednesday, May 11 a convoy carrying nuclear warheads with the equivalent strength of eight Hiroshimas left the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield in Berkshire.

It came up the M6 and M74, crossed the Erskine Bridge, passed Loch Lomond and arrived at Coulport at 9.20pm.

Nukewatch was, for obvious reasons, unable to follow this or attempt to hinder its illegal ploys.

Will nothing open the eyes or touch the hearts, of our nuclear jihadis? Must we surrender our future and the fate of the planet to these deranged souls?

Alice Walker said: “Our last five minutes on earth are running out. We can spend those minutes in meanness...or we can spend them consciously embracing every glowing soul who wanders within our reach.”

Can we not stop this madness now, at 90 seconds to midnight?

Brian Quail, Hyndland Avenue, Glasgow

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