| Letters - 12 September 2006 |
| Slap in face for Dundee |
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| DUNDEE HAS yet to benefit from the Executive’s policy of transferring public sector jobs out of Edinburgh.
Now SNP leader Alex Salmond has stepped in to say the relocation policy should be shelved.
Given that he has a fair chance of becoming First Minister next year, not only is this a slap in the face for Dundee but also SNP councillors and parliamentary representatives, who have backed demands for more jobs to be relocated to Dundee. — S. M. T., Dundee. |
| Absolute eyesore |
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| Who IS responsible for the ground at the end of Finlarig Terrace and the Fintryside junction in Dundee?
It is an absolute eyesore and is constantly used by youngsters drinking etc.
It is obvious that some people have no pride in the area they live in. The council should do something about it. — I’m Watching. |
| Political poser |
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| According TO letter writer Peter Donaldson, President Bush and Tony Blair do not represent Christianity, because they are politicians.
Can the same be said of the president of Iran and Islam, and the prime minister of Israel and Judaism? — Ron Smith, Dundee. |
| Bills behind drop |
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| I think the lack of the public using pubs, clubs etc is not down to the smoking ban and more to do with the increases in gas and electricity prices. People are just prioritising. What’s more important — a pint in your local or a warm home? I know what I would choose. — L. R. |
| Beggars’ choice |
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| I have been reading with interest the letters regarding the homeless people and beggars.
If these homeless and rough sleeping men and women have nothing to pay out, their benefit, according to the Government, is adequate to live on.
It’s their choice to spend it on alcohol or drugs, knowing that they’ll still have a roof over their head and a meal on the table.
Unlike hundreds of rent, tax and bill paying people who have little or no money “spare” to buy any kind of luxury at the end of the week. — Skint.
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| Give him up |
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| I was shocked to read about the teenager who managed to steal a single-decker bus from Travel Dundee’s bus depot and rampage up to Arbroath Road and severely damage a number of vehicles. Somebody knows who this silly person is, so, come on, for everyone's safety, please give him up. — Very Angry Citizen.
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| Degrading act |
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| I urge anyone approached by beggars in Dundee, to report it immediately to the police. This is the only way to stop this embarrassing, humiliating, degrading act in our city. — R. N. F. |
| Seeking relatives |
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| I am trying to trace any living relatives of a Rhona Simpson (I do not know her married name).
Rhona is the daughter of Lizzie and Jack Simpson (who died in September 1944), last known address Linwood, 39 Ferry Road, Monifieth. They were married in 1907.
Rhona has a sister Flora and a brother Jackie. I have no idea whether any, or all, are still alive.
Rhona would probably be well into her eighties by now. Her grandparents were Susanna and Robert Kellie, chairman and managing director of Robert Kellie & Son, brass founders.
I am desperate to find any family, or indeed their descendants, as it was Rhona, a cousin of my father, after whom I was named (although the spelling became a little lost). — Rhoma Peel, 62 Pinfold Lane, Southport, Merseyside PR8 3QL. |
| Do you remember Sandy? |
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| DO ANY of your readers, who were children in the 30s and 40s remember my grandfather, Alexander “Sandy” Mclean?
After being wounded on The Somme in 1916, he met a young girl from Dundee and they married at the end of the war.
He was a police constable from 1919 until 1947 and his “beat” was Lochee including “Tipperary”.
He often spoke of the poverty there, but said they were proud people, neither looked for, nor accepted charity.
Many of the children of “The Tip” were called up by the Army at the outbreak of the Second World War.
A photo, published many times, shows my granddad, standing at the bottom of Lochee Railway bridge in 1939. The children in the photo are being evacuated to the countryside.
His sons, Angus and Duncan, fought al El-Alamein and in Burma.
His daughters Betty and my mother Isla, were part of the crew of an anti-aircraft gun, in England.
A gaelic translation of my poem Ploughman was recently re-instated in the Scottish Parliament.
Sandy was from the Isle of Lewis and a Gaelic speaker. The translation at Holyrood is dedicated to him. — Scott Martin, Forest Park Road, Dundee.
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| My Journey — a poem |
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| I am a Clootie Dumpling
I was made with care,
My final destination,
I just don’t know where.
I started off in Dundee,
Then by word of mouth,
I began my journeys,
And I went down south.
A christening menu in London,
To Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent,
Everybody loved me,
No matter where I went.
Then last holidays,
I was off to Spain,
And as far as I believe,
I’m going back again.
But my furthest journey ever,
Really makes me wonder,
What Scottish Clootie Dumpling,
Is doing way Down Under.
— N. L., Dundee. |
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