'Dudley now a shadow of its former self' - Your letters, plus when Hollywood came to the Black Country Living Museum

Our town now a shadow of itself

Dudley was at one time a little gem; people didn't have to go anywhere else to shop or to find entertainment, it was all good stuff and the community itself was second to none. People looked forward to going into Dudley, it was a wonderful little town. We had a theatre with class acts and entertainment, it later went on to be a bingo hall and then was pulled down.

The churches were always open for prayer; they have been sold off or closed. Our heritage, school buildings etc. all sold off. I can remember very well Dudley down to the business people like Bill Whitmore from the fish mongers, a big friend of my fathers. Everyone used to meet up when they shut shop for a drink at the Little Barrel on a Saturday night.

I have so many memories. Merry Hill did have a part to play in the demise of our town, but I believe people would have returned. However there was nothing to come back for. Our wonderful councillors have seen to that. All we have left is a dirty filthy town, shops we have nothing in common with, high parking fees and rents. Of course we have our seating area on the Market Place where you can sit, if you can stand the filthy bird mess and wonderful view.

Judith Fisher, Tividale

UK defence a laughing stock

Oh dear just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, our spineless Prime Minister surpasses his idiocy. 

Our poor British citizens in Cyprus have no protection from being bombed! 

Thank goodness for Greece helping by shooting a drone down set to attack the island. 

We are already a laughing stock in the world, by not being able to protect our own country being invaded by unchecked (mostly men) illegal immigrants arriving on dinghies across the Channel.

The latest embarrassment should be no surprise. Heaven help us all.

Carol Owens, Coven

Water probe was quite alarming

Refilling water bottles, washing dishes, washing clothes, washing our bodies, all everyday activities carried out by most of us that involve water. 

After watching Dirty Business on Channel 4, I can’t believe how careless some private water companies have been to discharge untreated sewage into Britain’s waterways. 

The toxin producing bacterial infections that can be caught from water contaminated with human waste can cause serious health complications.

This is especially so in children and the elderly, and most of us are paying rates for water that could potentially make any one of us sick. 

It’s only right that some of these companies have been fined millions because this large scale pollution of UK water could cause a health crisis greater than the infected blood scandal of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. The best precautions to take are to boil water used for food preparation, drinking and washing dishes to kill any harmful bacteria that may be present, and to opt for drinks machines or water jugs with built-in filters.

Vicky Bartlett, Wolverhampton

Mystery is right for the Blinders

I have just just read M J Trow’s book, The Hagley Wood Murder, which attempts to tell us who actually did put Bella in the Wych Elm.

I couldn’t help but wonder what the story from the early 1940s would be like in the hands of Peaky Blinders supremo Steven Knight.

The atmosphere of the times, the events and of the narrative of the book itself would seem to be crying out for a little of the Steven Knight aesthetic!

Alan Jones,  Halesowen

New bins are just rubbish

I’m reading the magazine put out by Dudley Council. There is an article regarding our rubbish binsThis is undoubtedly going to cost us the council tax payers more money hidden in our increase in taxAnd where are people going to put all these containers? It’s crazy and I believe most council tax payers will agree with meAnd what an odd way of telling us the collection frequency. One sentence says fortnightly another says every other week. Who dreams up this nonsense?But it’s good to know Dudley council has so much spare cash to allow such a waste of money to be put into operation

Colin Hubbard, Dudley