HES must make up for years of neglect of our national treasures

Of the 37 Historic Environment Scotland sites across the country to be closed, 21 have still not even been surveyed. It strikes me that years of neglect by HES has left these sites in this dangerous state while governmental inattention means that there aren’t the resources or the sense of urgency required to survey let alone fix the problem. To the eye Inverlochy merely needs pointing and the top of the walls capped. In the private sector it would have long since been sorted.

HES – don't let this drag on for another two years – for the good of tourism and local economies get these properties re-opened.

Archie MacDonald, Director, The Highland Soap Company, near Fort William.

Stop the ugly plan for A83

I COULD not agree more with John Urquhart (Letters, June 19) re the proposed solution to the continual blockage of the A83.

A structure that will be set in part of one of the most scenic routes in Scotland must be of the highest aesthetic standard. It must be one of elegance and merit, not a bunker with windows.

One of our biggest assets in Scotland is our scenery. Yet this “solution” will block the stunning view that could be available.

Passengers coming from the west will only see the tunnel and the driver will have to keep their eyes on the road. How are we capitalising on our asset if this is the result?

The proposed tunnel is akin to blacking out the windows on the West Highland Line train.

The A83 deserves something on a par with the Kylesku bridge which has become an iconic part of NC500 – although heaven forfend the A83 is marketed in a similar way.

An elegant viaduct could be stunning and affordable.

We should be protesting loudly and long against the irreversible vandalism which is looking to be imposed on our scenery.

Like the ferries, Transport Scotland should be consulting the communities affected. What about a competition that goes to a public vote?

We must stop this folly. This tunnel will make wind turbines look Rodin sculptures by comparison.

William Thomson, Denny.

No quick fix for West Highland Line

THE inadequacies of passenger timetable services on the West Highland Line (Letters, June 20) have been aired frequently over recent decades and, unfortunately, do not improve with age. The basic timetable has existed for years now with Oban and Fort Wlliam/Mallaig portions detaching/combining at Crianlarich. It is what has been decreed both operationally and economically in running this line of route.

The diesel units thus employed are well into their 30th year of use and it is accepted that replacement is now overdue. Whether this would bring about a specific build that would have facilities to extol the views so described is desirable but clouded with uncertainty.

ScotRail is now nationalised by the Scottish Government which through its Transport Scotland secretariat controls the purse strings and nothing has come to light as yet beyond a desire/requirement to replace most passenger-carrying stock currently used throughout the network. Whatever transpires it will be some years hence before such changes take place.

John Macnab, Falkirk.

Read more: ScotRail selling us short with abysmal West Highland Line service

Lockdown was a pantomime

THE so-called Partygate inquiry goes on. New footage indicates that Christmas parties were going on not just at 10 Downing Street but also involving Tory staff at their London HQ.

While these people should be held accountable, to me this misses the main point. In his infamous “You must stay at home" speech of March 2020 Boris Johnson said: “The Coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades.” He went on to describe it as an “invisible killer”. Yet judging by the Christmas parties, he and other staff members obviously didn't believe either of these statements, or certainly not by that point in time.

But the Government kept the pantomime of the damaging lockdowns and other Covid measures going.

Geoff Moore, Alness.

Concern over medical records

RE your article on destroying medical health records ("Destroying my health records ‘was an abuse’", The Herald, June 20), I recently found almost 50 pages of detailed medical records from Stobhill Hospital in Australian Army records. This was of a family relation who was badly wounded serving at Gallipoli with the Anzacs as a "Lone Pine" Aussie. Yet if the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) had applied these would have been destroyed.

I suggest that in the interests of open government and common courtesy patients or their next of kin should be consulted before medical records are "culled" or destroyed. I would have thought a patient would have some access to their own personal medical records. I have found that the GDPR laws appear to be being quoted more and more when requesting simple information from various organisations.

Eric Flack, Glasgow.

Punctilious and proud of it

THOUGH I certainly remember El Fideldo (Letters, June 16, 19 & 20), I also remember thinking, on first reading Lobey Dosser in 1949, that Lobey’s two-legged steed, being female, should have been called La Fidelda.

In similar precision mode, I would remind contributors (on this and other topics) that "iconic" means hastily and often crudely executed to a conventional pattern. That is, it means like an icon and not – as guesswork might suggest – like the venerable depicted thereon. Hence, correctly used, the word iconic is a derogatory rather than a laudatory term.

See us educated geezers? It’s too bad that we’re so busy putting people right that we rarely have time to actually do anything constructive. And before anybody writes in, I’ll point out that it’s perfectly OK to both split an infinitive and begin a sentence with a co-ordinating conjunction provided it’s obvious that the requisite licence has been exercised knowingly.

Call Jacob Rees-Mogg a punctilious prat? The man’s a beginner.

Robin Dow, Rothesay.