Research into war hero

We are currently investigating the background of Private William Simpson from Cliffe Terrace, Springbank, Ingrow, Keighley, who died 13/07/1917, and was buried in our town Oudenburg, near Ostend.

He was one of the 12 British soldiers buried here. Later on, his body was buried at another cemetery.

We would very much like to know the circumstances of his death and find a picture of this person.

Could you help us by tracing information about this person in the Keighley News or other archives?

Name: SIMPSON, WILLIAM Initials: W Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Northumberland Fusiliers Unit Text: 16th Bn.

Age: 39 Date of Death: 13/07/1917 Service No: 40490 Additional information: Son of Charles and Annie Simpson, of 25, Cliffe Terrace, Springbank, Ingrow, Keighley, Yorks.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: I. B. 19.

Cemetery: Larch Wood (Railway Cutting) Cemetery.

Peter Velle Deputy Mayor

Meaning of no firm proposals

Well, are there any plans for a road through Park Wood? "The Bradford District Transport Strategy 2006 - 2021 was approved by Executive on 24 April 2007. ..... These proposals include ..... Keighley Eastern Relief Road and Hard Ings Road improvement in Keighley."

I have quoted these words from a report by the Strategic Director presented to Bradford Council Executive on February 5. The report was accepted; it was agreed, without it going to a vote, that it should be put to the public for consultation.

The map published by the Keighley News, labelled as not a definitive plan, was from this report.

Councillor Graham Mitchell has given me sight of a letter from the Department of Regeneration, Transportation and Highways Service. It was dated around March 4 but it was unsigned. Referring to the Report to Bradford Council Executive held on February 5, only a month earlier, it said: "A proposal for Keighley Eastern Bypass was included and shown diagrammatically - to the East of Keighley. There are however no firm proposals or schemes in development at this stage.

"I can confirm this longer time proposal is not the one previously considered and subsequently abandoned on cost and environmental grounds some years ago.

"I trust this clarifies the current position and will allay fears of properties previously affected."

The words "no firm proposals or schemes" does not mean there is no intention of having a road.

The Bradford executive has said it wants public consultation. As I said when I presented a petition to Bradford Council last week against trashing Park Wood I have been assisting with this by gathering opinions in my town council ward, Long Lee and Park Wood. The vast majority are against a road through Park Wood.

I am pleased that Bradford councillors voted for the petition to be debated by the executive. I am also pleased that Keighley Town Council Transport Committee has agreed to ask Bradford what progress was being made with alternative proposals, because of opposition to any road through Park Wood.

Judith Brooksbank Keighley

Look at state of shops

Having read in the Keighley News about yet more proposals for the area's future, I think we should look at what we have at the present to decide how we can improve things.

The fact that Bradford Council was going to formulate our future for us without asking what the people would like is totally contemptible. Thanks to the town council a meeting is now planned.

For a start Hard Ings Road must be made into a dual carriageway as it should have been when the new road was built.

Using that road at any time is bad enough but at peak time traffic blocks all three roundabouts because of the bottleneck. Forget the eastern bypass suggestion - by comparison with the Hard Ings Road problem it is minuscule.

Consider the main roads in town. Bradford Road has the dilapidated old gas building, as noted by a reader from Cross Roads, also the old Prince Smith & Stells works, and now the pub is boarded up. South Street and North Street are possibly worse.

Have you seen the state of most the shops. What do people think as they pass by?

Go to Bradford and see how well they're doing with the city. Drive (or walk if you dare) down Leeds Road, Westgate, Sunbridge Road, Girlington Road, Manningham Lane, etc etc. The same authority manages these areas as well. Do we want our town to look the same?

Les Goater, Bradley Grove, Silsden.

Shame about attendance

As a new Keighley town councillor I attended my first annual town council meeting at Swire Hall, March 19.

Sadly it did not have the vibrancy that I had expected. As far as I could tell only two or three members of the public had bothered to listen or ask questions as to the actions of its town councillors and where its precept money was being spent.

It seems that many thousands of pounds of tax payers' money are donated, in one form or another to various Keighley organisations each year.

While no doubt some of these organisations have probably sent many letters of request and even thanks for the taxpayers' benevolence - given after due thought and governance by Keighley Town Council members - showing support by at least attending the Annual Town Council meeting seems to be too much for the beneficiates of public funds.

On the other side of the coin, approximately £6,500 per week, over £300,000 a year, of Keighley taxpayers' money is being spent each year by Keighley Town Council and it would suggest that the vast majority of taxpayers don't care to ask at the Annual Town Council meetings questions about how we town councillors can authorise the spending of a huge amount of public monies in such stringent times. To be fair, possibly both the rate payers and the recipients of public funds had not known of the meeting, as not everybody looks at public notices.

However it really does seem a shame that such an important meeting was not as well attended as one would have wished for.

R P Beale, Ridgemount Road, Riddlesden, Keighley.

Who felled cherry trees

Could you please ask through your paper, who was the environmentally unfriendly person who gave permission to cut down the cherry trees in the school grounds over-looking Broomhill Avenue.

I know these trees have been here for a very long time, as I have lived down here 38 years.

When these trees came into bloom it was a pleasure for the residents and people walking and driving past. You knew spring was here and a bit of colour for Broomhill Avenue. But no more.

G Hanson, G Buchanan, Broomhill Avenue, Ingrow.

MP is like absent landlady

I recently read with some alarm that local MP Ann Cryer was intending to offer a reduced service to local constituents because of staff shortages.

However, what was not made clear at that time was her plan to effectively disappear.

Two weeks ago she failed to take part in the House of Commons vote on allowing the new EU Reform Treaty to be put to a referendum of the people - something which was included in the Labour manifesto on which she stood for re-election in 2005.

Then, last week, she failed to participate in the vote to stop the Labour Government's Post Office closure programme.

Readers may remember that Mrs Cryer waited until four Post Offices in Keighley and Ilkley were ordered to shut before making any comment and, even then, she tried to justify the Government's misguided actions.

The vote on my Conservative colleagues' motion to halt the closures gave her a golden the chance to finally stand up for local people on this issue. Yet again, she let them down. Voters in Keighley and Ilkley rightly demand proper representation in our nation's Parliament. Unfortunately their views are not being heard because their MP is behaving like an absent landlady.

Kris Hopkins Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Keighley & Ilkley

Pots and kettles in mind

Dorothy Clamp recently wrote to the letters page to express her "horror and amazement" at Ann Cryer's "plea for patience" during temporary staffing problems at her Keighley office. Mrs Clamp accused Mrs Cryer of having little concern for the needs and problems of her constituents.

I strongly suspect that most fair-minded people, whatever their politics, would agree that Mrs Cryer has always been a hardworking and dedicated Member of Parliament, including at times of personal tragedy. Moreover, in her willingness to confront controversial issues, she has repeatedly shown herself to be a woman of remarkable courage and integrity.

To disagree with Mrs Cryer's political views, to wish to defeat her at the next election, is naturally par for the course in a democracy. But Mrs Clamp's attack on her, on the flimsiest of grounds, was to my mind unjustified and deeply distasteful. That letter was signed "Dorothy Clamp, Conservative Candidate".

Now, two weeks later, Mrs Clamp is back on the letters page, this time accusing the Liberal Democrats of "disgusting" electioneering, concerning local fears for Park Wood.

Mmm . . . pots, kettles and double standards all spring to mind.

Jane O'Connor Creed, Thwaites Brow Road, Long Lee, Keighley.

Ideas for road are welcome

I write regarding Dorothy Clamp's letter in last week's Keighley News. I am pleased that her experience as a councillor and chairman of the Keighley Area Committee has left her with a clear picture of the future of Keighley's road network.

I was always taught that it is good manners to respect experience and knowledge, and I make no exception here. However for the rest of us the situation is far from clear. As someone who has lived and worked here a mere seven years, the bottle neck of the 700 metre single carriageway stretch of Hard Ings Road is somewhat puzzling.

As an ordinary resident of the Aire Valley, I find information on the situation hard to come by, even in this day and age of easy access through the internet. But despite the shortage of information: one thing is clear: there may be no money at present, but it is obvious something will need to be done sooner rather than later.

It seems Judith Brooksbank and her colleagues are eschewing sitting on their backsides, wringing their hands and blaming others. Instead, it seems, they are actually doing something proactive and positive with their time. If the Keighley News is anything to go by, they are seeking solutions before plans are set in stone. Well done to Judith, Roger and friends.

Simon Jerram Elmsley Street, Steeton