IN response to the recent letter 'Leave The Valley Alone'.

Having lived in Atherton for over 35 years I would ask which part of The Valley this person has been looking at?

The person speaks of catching fish in the brook, but does not give any mention to the bicycle parts, Tesco trolleys, four foot weeds, condoms, plus many other articles of rubbish that litter the brook.

Could it be she missed the foot of the cliff littered with broken bottles, syringes, beer cans and other discarded articles of dangerous rubbish.

Would her young son be allowed to catapult himself 50 feet in the air on the notorious cliff swing? I personally know of two people who were lucky to escape with their lives after falling off it.

The picture given in the letter resembles somewhere in the Lake District, not a well known run-down and neglected part of Atherton.

After saying that, the character of The Valley does need to be preserved and it can only be done by an extensive cleaning up operation with the aid of investment, just like the investment that saved Alder House, which dates back to the 1600s, from becoming another Briarcroft and disappear forever.

Valley Resident

Name and address

supplied

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.