Check out this week's Hunts Post Letters to the Editor

I take it from the letter in The Hunts Post 05.04.23 (page 30) entitled ‘Jailing of pedestrian sets dangerous legal precedent’ that no one checked the new Highway Code.

On pages 25/26 in paragraph 64 it says you 'must not cycle on a pavement'.

Reference: Laws HA 1835 Scot 72 & R(S)A sect 129

This means that the mentioned common sense in the article is actually law now.

In the introduction on page 4, it is clarified that contravening a ‘MUST or MUST NOT’ rule means committing a criminal offence. 

As there are more and more cyclists riding illegally at speed on footpaths, it is only a matter of time when more accidents will happen. I personally have seen a gentleman die in intensive care after a head-on collision.

In terms of the Highway Code, a lot has changed, bolstering the rights of cyclists and pedestrians, in essence requiring more considerate and defensive driving from motorists.

Name and details provided

Nick leaves big boots to fill 

Cambridgeshire Police chief constable Nick Dean’s five-year contract ends in September and whilst I would happily have extended his contract, I completely understand why he has chosen to retire.

In 2018, Nick gave a five-year commitment to the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, including his officers and staff and it is a testament to him that he has seen it through.

What is pleasing is that he will leave the Constabulary in a strong position. Crime is down and we have more officers than ever in Cambridgeshire’s history.

He will be sorely missed both locally and nationally where he has been the UK police lead for many important agendas including most recently in forensics.

Nick leaves big boots to fill but I am sure that policing circles know what an excellent chief he has been and that an excellent Constabulary awaits the successful applicant.

I wish him all the very best for his retirement.

Darryl Preston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire.

Make our streets safer

Our future councillors need to prioritise improving our streets to help people choose cleaner and healthier ways to travel.

The benefits of people walking more are plentiful, from increased physical activity and better health to reduced congestion and cleaner air.

It is National Walking Month this May, and walking charity Living Streets has set out seven steps to create better places for walking in their Blueprint for Change.

Steps include maintaining pavements, improving pedestrian crossings, and investing in public transport. You can read more about this on the Living Streets websites.

All these measures can make walking a safer and more attractive option and help bring our communities and streets to life.

It’s time to give walking the priority it deserves.

Barry Davies
Huntingdon

Community Events 

St Neots Gardening Club

The club will meet at St Mary's Church Hall, Brook Street, St Neots, on April 27 at 7.30pm.

The subject of the meeting is 'hardy exotics and creating micro climates' and a talk will be given by Colin Ward.

Members pay £2 and for visitors the cost is £2.50. This includes a raffle and refreshments. Everyone is welcome.

Huntingdonshire Philatelic Society.

At the meeting of the society on April 12, our guest speakers where two members of the Northampton Philatelic Society: Cliff Masters  and Paul Boniface.

Cliff's subject was The Boer War and Saint Helena.

The Boer war, 1899-1902, was fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics the South African republic and the Orange Free State.

Because there were 20,000 Boer prisoners, which resulted in overcrowded prisoner-of-war camps in South Africa, one of the islands where some of the prisoners  were taken was St Helena.

There were two camps, Deadwood and Broadbottom. We were shown censored prisoner's mail and A.P.F forms, which gave permission for a prisoner to be about from the camp for the purpose of being employed as a teacher. 

He showed various post cards of the camp and the Wiltshire regiment who were the advance guard along with a list of the ships that brought the prisoners to the island. 

When they were released many of the prisoners did not want to leave. A photo of the prisoners leaving bought his display to an end.

Paul Boniface showed First World War tax stamps and Red Cross  overprints which were mainly West Indian countries. 

The Jamaican stamps had so many flaws as some of the stamps displayed showed. 

Full sheets of war tax stamps from Turkey and Caicos, St Vincent, Cayman Islands and Trinidad and Tobago were shown. 

Rhodesia did not issue war tax stamps but increased its postage rate from 1d to 1½d. 

Examples of overprints were shown from St Helena, Malta, St Lucia and the Gold Coast.  Examples were also shown of   the  different  overprint spacing’s on the British Guiana issue.

Great Britain issued a war tax seal in 1915 and we were shown an example. 

Ceylon  was the last country to issue stamps when the war was  over. North Borneo and Australia overprinted stamps for the second world war and New Zealand issued a war stamp.

Visits from local societies are always interesting and this evening was no exception with two excellent displays.

Our next meeting is on April 25 when our speaker will be David Wilson.

We meet at Hemingford Abbots Village Hall (PE28 9AH) and the meeting started at 7.15pm.

New members always welcome. For further information, contact David Birkert on: 01480 468037.

If you want to submit a community report, go to our website and click on Community Contribution.