| Author |
Message |
Gavin Tradelius
Guest
| | Posted on Friday, August 27, 2010 - 02:57 pm: |   |
Thank you for your letter dated 16 August. We as a society are immensely grateful for the support of local news media such as the Guernsey Press and others in publicising the aim of the society, which is namely to encourage the keeping of goats and improving the standard of goats in the island. Without publicity, the objects of the society are difficult to realise and the society suffers.
As you reported, we represent all breeds of goat in the island but are particularly proud of our own indigenous goat, the Golden Guernsey. It is the most prevalent breed exhibited at local shows by members of the society in the island.
It is great shame for you to receive a letter such as you did when providing an informative article on our annual young stock show – your comments and reporting were broadly correct and we as a society have no issue with your article. It is quite ironic that the author of the article seems to direct most of their invective to claiming that your reporting is both poor and incorrect when in reality virtually every one of their observations and statements is either factually or technically incorrect – I could elaborate but it serves no purpose to do so.
We are aware of the individual who authored this letter and they have been directly provided with a response that demonstrates this.
So from our side, thank you to the Guernsey Press for all the support and coverage you provide to the society and we look forward to continuing to benefit from your excellent coverage of our events.
Gavin Tradelius,
President,
Guernsey Goat Society |
Rebecca Martin
Guest
| | Posted on Friday, August 27, 2010 - 02:56 pm: | |
I AM writing to express how appalled I was of the article of page 15 of the Guernsey Press on Wednesday 4 August, ‘Celebrating our precious Golden Goats’. It is poorly reported, with facts very wrong, and I think will give the public reading it a very wrong idea.
‘The show was open to kids and bucklings up to two years.’ The show is open to kids and bucklings, but what about the goatlings?
‘The show was one of three the GGS holds each year.’ No, the GGS holds two shows each year, the Annual Show (on 28 August this year) and the Young Stock show each July.
‘Others are the Golden Guernsey Goat Show, part of the Royal Horticultural and Agricultural Society Show in Saumarez Park last week.’ In fact, the Royal Show, as it is known, is held by a different society in partnership with the RGHAS, the Golden Guernsey Goat Breed Society.
‘There are now only 300 Golden Guernsey goats left in the world,’ he said. The 300 figure is approximately the number of registered Golden Guernseys in the island of Guernsey only.
May I suggest you speak to the UK society, The Golden Guernsey Goat Society, for UK and world figures, and our registrar locally.
‘We have started an artificial insemination scheme to regenerate stocks and are looking at the possibility of the goats’ fleece, which is similar to cashmere, being used for clothing. If we can develop a commercial use, I think breeding would really take off.’
Some of the members of both local societies did attend an AI course last autumn, in order to learn and possibly consider this idea, but the obtaining and bringing in of straws is difficult. The goats’ ‘fleece’ is its hide, fleece is the wool of a sheep, and it is not similar to cashmere. If it was possible to use this commercially, do you not think somebody would already be doing so? I know at least one of us would be by now if it were.
For your final statement of figures, please refer back to the second to last above point. The only correct figure is that there are approximately 10 breeding males on the island.
After spending the whole article on the Golden Guernsey breed goats, you have printed a most gorgeous picture of a British Toggenburg goat. It is a super picture, but if you have spent all that time attempting to speak of the goldens, why do that?
The aim of both societies is to promote all breeds of goats in the island and further afield. So why also do you not talk at all of any other breeds of goat kept here in Guernsey? It is like somebody has tried to make a jigsaw puzzle but has lost half the pieces, so tried to make pieces from other puzzles fit the gaps.
There are many people in this island who have been keeping goats, of various breeds, for decades, if not lifetimes. There are many people also who do not keep breeding stock, nor registered stock necessarily, but just have a couple as pets in the back garden. Don’t forget the rest of us – we may be quieter and out the limelight, but we do exist.
I agree we must make people more aware of the benefits of keeping goats and the importance of promoting the Goldens, but it must be done correctly.
It is believed the same Guernsey Press reporter also spoke to the women over from the UK who were judging the Royal Show the previous week, so surely the facts given at the two shows do not match where they should? Especially since one of the women is the woman to speak to for information and figures from the UK society, and the article on the Royal Show, printed on 30 July, was factually correct.
This is not the first time in the last year the media has poorly reported on the goats of the island. GBG magazine last August also published a very poor, and offensive to some, article, including phone numbers which they had not had permission to be printed, and again many facts were completely wrong.
Yes we are here, but such media articles can actually do more harm than good. May I also just say I am writing on behalf of myself, and not either of the mentioned societies.
REBECCA MARTIN. |
Charles McHugh
Guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 02:21 pm: | |
I REFER to your article in the Guernsey Press of Thursday 12 August entitled ‘Rugby player flees from arrest’ concerning a 19-year-old with no previous convictions who was given a community service order in the Magistrate’s Court.
While I do not in any way condone his reported actions, I have great difficulty understanding the reason for the words ‘Rugby player’ in your banner headline when this case has no apparent connection with rugby whatsoever. The young man concerned is not a professional nor a high-profile rugby player. He may, for all I know, be a euchre player or enjoy a good game of golf, none of which would also have any relevance to the matter of his court appearance.
The Guernsey Rugby Academy works hard to promote the sport.
It is not typical of rugby players to behave badly in the community and the kind of pejorative labelling you have used in this instance is not fair on the 800 or so rugby players and volunteer rugby helpers in Guernsey.
The core values of rugby are teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship, all of which can be seen on a rugby pitch and which most of those involved in our sport carry forward into the wider community.
CHARLES McHUGH,
Director of Rugby,
Guernsey Rugby Academy,
18-20, Smith Street,
St Peter Port,
GY1 4BL. |
Simon Coombe
Guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 10:00 am: | |
YOUR paper reported that Guernsey French proved a hit at the Art and Islands conference. This is good news but I feel it is deplorable that pure French is so badly rendered locally.
The Environment Department page in your paper invariably has errors and addresses given in court reports contain howlers. Every day I pass in the Couture ‘La Petit Clos’ and ‘Petit’ rather than ‘Petite’ Maison. Perry’s has numerous mistakes (only a small number can be deliberate to detect plagiarism): Rue de la Monnaie, Les Grand Marais and Rue du Passeur Road, to quote just three.
Terre a l’Amende signs are fertile territory (someone has to study them): Ces premise sont a l’amende (College Field of all places) and Terre a l’amande (almond) in Barras Lane. The ‘Things to do’ booklet referred to La Nuit de les Musees (duly reproduced, I fear, in your paper).
As you are aware, this has been a bee in my bonnet for some time. This letter, however, has been triggered by two matters close to my heart: the Post Office has produced a National Trust stamp captioned La Moulin de Quanteraine (also reported in your paper without comment) together with a reference to La Viaer Marchi.
Surely pure French is as much a part of Guernsey’s heritage as its buildings, patois, trees etc. Can we not make more effort to get it right?
SIMON COOMBE |
Andy Castle
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 02:44 pm: | |
ON MONDAY 12 July, you covered Jersey’s attempt to improve its prominence on BBC weather forecasting maps and the fact that Guernsey seems to be leaving them to it. But from my observations, something more sinister seems to be going on ‘Down South’.
I have noticed that predicted temperatures always seem to be significantly higher for Jersey than for us, the difference being as much as four or five degrees Celsius on occasion. I have pondered long and hard on this apparent anomaly – perhaps Jersey generates more hot air. Maybe they have been less successful at combating global warming (with toads perhaps being more flatulent than donkeys). Or maybe it’s Jersey Royals rotting in the semi-tropical sun.
I even wondered if it might be as simple as a succession of reader errors or a busted thermometer. Eventually, after a massive six-degree variance one day, I stirred myself into action and phoned a ‘recently retired member of the Met Office here in Guernsey’ (to protect his identity, I shall just call him ‘Tim’). He put me right straightaway.
There are three reasons, apparently:
Firstly, when the wind is in the south, it heats up over the Continent but cools over the sea so by the time it gets to us it is relatively cooler. OK, I can understand that but, of course, our predominant winds are in the west so this doesn’t explain why the difference happens so often and regardless of wind direction.
Secondly, Guernsey slopes the opposite way to Jersey (we are high in the south and low in the north) but given that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and crosses both islands at right angles, I don’t see how that can be a factor.
The other reason, it appears, is that our crafty Channel neighbours use a met observation taken in St Helier, which I am told (for I have never felt the need to go there) is at sea level. It is therefore inherently warmer than Guernsey Airport (336 feet above mean sea level) where our readings are taken. So when Jersey predict they predict St Helier temperatures not Jersey Airport ones. QED.
I know this isn’t a race, but has anyone other than me ever looked at the confusion of Greek islands in the travel brochure and picked the one with the best temperatures? Jersey Tourism clearly recognises the importance of a higher weather profile and has reportedly mounted a campaign to increase it. Perhaps we should respond with a new strategy – ‘Come to Guernsey – it’s a bloney site warmer yer.’
ANDY CASTLE |
Anon
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 02:41 pm: | |
I WAS interested to read in the Guernsey Press of 20 July that Deputy Hunter Adam said ‘It’s fine to have a broken leg – but not a broken head.’ How true.
Many, many ‘difficult’, ‘work-shy’, ‘troublesome’, ‘attention seeking’ and ‘uncooperative’ people could have told you that years ago. Do not expect help between 5pm Friday and 9am Monday, or Tuesday if a bank holiday.
There will not be any if you have ‘mental health’ problems. Do not bother to contact your deputy. The election is not just yet.
I know there is no money. There never is any money for mental health services, and I myself doubt very much if there ever will be.
Anon |
Bernard Gaudion
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, July 26, 2010 - 02:38 pm: | |
RE. ‘Guernsey French a hit’, Guernsey Press, Friday 25 June 2010.
As you will gather from my name, I am a ‘Guern’ and as such am interested in the revival of Guernsey patois.
At the age of five I spoke no English, much to the annoyance of my teachers at Les Capelles School. What is more, my parents made it a rule that only patois was to be spoken within the home. Any request I made in English was simply ignored until I reached my mid-teens and had left school. Result – I can still speak patois.
It surprises me how often local place names and patois words are misspelt and/or misused in your paper – maybe that perhaps no proof reader is available.
Last Friday’s report on the Arts and Islands Conference deserves a prize – what or who are ‘fluent Guernsey women’ who were so described at Castle Cornet? The word Guernesiase translates as ‘Guernsey woman’ and when spoken is pronounced with a soft ‘g’. The addition of that final ‘e’ not only changes the meaning of the word, but also the gender.
BERNARD GAUDION,
GP Editor’s footnote: Mr Gaudion is, of course, correct that there was a superfluous ‘e’ at the end of Guernsesiais in the article, turning the meaning from a Guernseyman or the island language to a Guernsey woman or lily.
We apologise for the error and agree that accuracy is an important part of the battle to retain the island’s native tongue. There is not always agreement on the spelling of Guernsey French terms – as can be seen from Mr Gaudion’s own letter, where Guernesiais loses the second ‘i’ preferred by philologist Marie de Garis – but we will endeavour to be consistent with Mrs de Garis’ book, Dictiounnaire Anglais-Guernesiais. |
C. Carre
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, July 19, 2010 - 03:19 pm: | |
PERCEPTION is strange thing.
Take a certain Press writer...
He always takes a negative and biased perception of events.
Funny that, isn’t it Mr Murny? Or should that be Mr Moany... anything but Mr Murphy?
C. CARRE (Mr) |
Jamie Ogier
Guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - 03:36 pm: | |
WHY is it that when an alleged paedophile is reported in the Guernsey Press the name of the accused is not printed?
I understand that when the allegation is from a family member the courts have to be careful not to reveal the identity of the victims but what about when it’s not? When someone is accused of drink driving or assault, names and addresses get printed.
Personally, I am against anyone’s name being released as when enough mud is thrown some will stick, rightly or wrongly.
On Friday 18 June it was reported ‘A man accused of committing a gross act of indecency towards a 13-year-old girl was given bail.’ One of his bail conditions was that he was not allowed within 50 metres of any educational institution.
Is this some kind of joke? Firstly schools will soon be empty as it’s the holidays. Secondly, the courts must have thought this man a risk to impose this. If someone is a risk to the public should they not be in custody?
This man is free to visit local parks and beaches. Granted, it would not be practical to ban him from these places, so I say lock him up. Did the magistrate even think how this poor 13-year-old is going to feel knowing this man is still out there?
If convicted, it’s time to name, shame and sentence these people properly, not just give them a slap on the wrist. The damage they do is irreversible. How many people who are a victim of burglary go on to burgle others? Not many. You only have to look at the stats to see that many abused children go on to commit other crimes or even worse, they become the abuser.
The sentences they receive just doesn’t fit the crime. No crime is acceptable but surely those evil crimes should be punished accordingly.
JAMIE OGIER
GP Editor’s footnote: We are free to identify those accused of any wrongdoing and will normally do so from the time they appear in court.
For at least 15 years, however, we have chosen not to name individuals appearing for allegations of a serious sexual nature unless they either plead guilty or are convicted of the offence.
Naming individuals is important and where, for instance, an attack has taken place on a family member, we will name and avoid identifying the victim.
In practice, that means saying ‘Mr X seriously sexually assaulted a girl’ rather than ‘man attacked daughter’. |
Karen Langlois
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, July 05, 2010 - 02:27 pm: | |
MY FATHER, Ken Le Masurier (86), of Aqir, Le Feugre, Castel, has asked if I could let you have the following in relation to an article in the centre of the Guernsey Press the Friday before last by Michael Marshall. It is as follows.
‘Here is some additional information regarding Michael Marshall’s centre page story on the German invasion and landings at the airport in Friday 25 June’s Guernsey Press.
Having known Michael all my life, I am sure he will not be offended if I slightly correct two of his points.
My grandfather, William Keeping (a keen walker), was actually in his room soaking his feet as we had no lawn and he actually didn’t hear the gunshots as he was deaf. You will see why I mention this as the story unfolds.
The sirens on the airport tower started to sound, so we thought an air raid on the airport and surrounding area was imminent. We decided to go down the valley and up into the little lane opposite the Manor Hotel as it had high hedges and was very narrow. Grandfather said he’d catch us up as he knew where we would be. On reaching the centre of the lane on top of the hill, we found most of the neighbours had the same idea. Hearing aircraft coming low but no gunfire, we youngsters climbed the hedge and saw JU52 troop-carrying aircraft coming in low from over Icart Point, probably from Cherbourg. Sometime later we heard two rifle shots in the distance from the airport direction. There was still no sign of granddad. We thought that perhaps because of his age, he had decided to stay put. As things became quiet, we all made our way home.
On entering the house, we found granddad sitting in his armchair, smoking his pipe. We asked him why he hadn’t bothered to come. He surprised us by saying he had been down to the bottom of the lane, saw a large car parked in the entrance, no one about, so decided to go back home. On approaching the house, he was stopped by two German soldiers. They pulled his arm from behind his back and asked if he had seen a car. He told them of the one in the lane. I now know they were looking for Harry Ingrouille, who they had fired at as he sped down the valley. They finally told granddad to go home, so I guess he was the first civilian to be spoken to, other than the reception committee at the airport.
The next part of the story is as told to me by Harry Ingrouille. He lived almost at the bottom of Petit Bot Valley. On that day, he wanted to know what all the aircraft noise was about and decided to drive to the top of the hill at Le Bourg. On clearing the first bend in the road, he was confronted by two German soldiers, who shouted and lifted their rifles, so he made a quick exit. He went into reverse, ducking down in his seat as low as possible – just as well, as a bullet was fired at the windscreen, taking a chunk of metal out of the steering wheel and a bit out of his wrist. He managed to zigzag backwards until he reached the lane called Les Messuriers, where he managed to do a U-turn and sped down the valley while laying almost horizontal, casting an occasional look through the windscreen. They finally put a bullet through the rear windscreen and he never knew where that one went. I saw the car shortly before he hid it away for the duration of the war years. He was one lucky man.’
KAREN LANGLOIS,
karen@ langlois.com. |
Geoff Dorey
Guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 03:23 pm: | |
AGAINST my natural inclination I find myself starting to become one of the regular contributors to your columns. However, I could hardly believe my eyes when I read the front-page headline of your issue of 10 May where your propensity to highlight the worst aspect of any situation has reached new heights.
On what was a wonderful day of celebration which illustrated the astonishing energy, enthusiasm and inventiveness of the people of this island, you chose to emblazon your front page with: 'Scary' cavalcade crush and then occupy the rest of the page with what was a 'non-story.' I know, I was there.
I so despair of you ever being able to find something positive to write that I would like to suggest that you change the strapline under your front page banner from: 'Serving the islands for 196 years' to 'The Island's Champion Whingers.'
GEOFF DOREY.
GP Editor's footnote: Mr Dorey raises a valid point and one that has been discussed on our online forum and again on Sunday during the BBC phone-in in fairly critical terms and we are pleased to have the opportunity to try to respond.
Liberation Day, by any standards, was a huge success. The number of people who turned up and the excellence of the cavalcade and all the celebrations was evidence of that.
Our reporters and photographers were there to record a fantastic day and to gather the material for a special commemorative colour supplement, which we published on the Tuesday, so there was no intention to 'knock' the event.
However, at the height of the cavalcade, a number of clearly distressed bystanders on the marina side of the road called some of our staff over to say that the crush was the real story of the day and, indeed, some were climbing over the rails - in the process hanging over the marina - to get free from the crowd. Others jumped from the roadside onto the slip.
When the story came back into the office, I questioned the reporters closely to ensure this wasn't some exaggerated incident and that the story had validity.
The next problem was how to present this in paper. We were well aware that the day itself had been an outstanding success, so successful that the seafront was overcrowded at least for a time, and that a 'negative' headline would be open to criticism.
That said, the incident as reported was sufficiently out of the ordinary to merit mention.
In the event, we ran page one as readers will have seen but, conscious that 'cavalcade crush' might be read as critical of the day, tried to balance that with a prominent subheading, which read: Huge crowd turns out for fantastic 65th celebration.
If, despite that, readers felt we gave the wrong impression, I can only apologise, for that was not our intention and we tried to avoid doing so.
On the positive side, we have had a lot of good feedback about our various Liberation publications, much of it fresh information, and are currently exploring the possibility of making these available electronically as a permanent record and one that can be sent to family and friends overseas.
If anyone is interested, they can pre-register by contacting us via newsroom@guernsey-press.com.
We are particularly pleased that the commemorative colour supplement issued on the Tuesday sold an extra 550 copies that day and hope that the headline did not detract from a superb 65th celebration. |
Anna Tyson
Guest
| | Posted on Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 02:10 pm: | |
WHY is it that in this current financial climate the Guernsey Press still feels it has the right to name and shame people and print petty debt judgements in the paper?
There may be any number of reasons why people end up in these situations and it is no business of the general public who people owe money to.
It's about time this was stopped - surely it goes against people's basic right to privacy?
Please tell me if you can justify yourselves. You should be ashamed to put them in print. This is 2010 ... not 1910.
ANNA TYSON.
GP Editor's footnote: This letter raises some fundamental points and we are happy to respond to them.
Firstly, the report is of a formal court hearing, the same as if we were reporting on a matter before the Magistrate's or the Royal Courts, and these are fully open, on the basis that justice has to be seen to be done.
Although Petty Debts is primarily for the recovery of comparatively small amounts of outstanding money, it does occasionally highlight significant matters of public interest, such as the dispute over damage caused to a car removed from Cobo car park and a man seeking damages from Unite the union over the closure of Guernsey airport.
These are clearly matters of public interest and need to be reported - and commented upon - openly.
In addition, many local businesses use the weekly report of 'ordinary' debt court judgements to give them warning of individuals or operations with whom they have commercial relationships who might be experiencing difficulties.
And although this is probably less significant, the routine court reports are a barometer of the areas in which individuals experience difficulties.
Doctors' and phone bills are clearly difficult for some islanders and it does exist as an early warning.
On balance, we are comfortable running the information for the reasons explained.
However, we would welcome feedback on this and are happy to review matters if that's what readers want. |
E. Bourgaize
Guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 02:30 pm: | |
YOUR report in Thursday's Guernsey Press headlined 'Keep Google in the dark - stay in with PC off' has rightly identified the threat the Googlemen pose to right thinking Guernsey men and women.
Having foreigners prowling our streets photographing all they behold and snooping on our computers is against nature and the good order of things.
My wife and I do not have a computer, but we fear the Googlemen nonetheless.
To stop them reading my mind I intend wrapping my head in aluminium foil for the duration of their visit and urge other islanders to do the same.
Your reporter's advice to stay in our houses does not go far enough. I am resolved to lock my wife up under the stairs. She is a good worker and I would never forgive myself if the Googlemen stole her.
E. BOURGAIZE. |
Gillian Lenfestey
Guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 02:29 pm: | |
RE THE article 'People flock to their St James' (Guernsey Press, 27 April 2010).
I read the above article with interest, but feel it's a pity that it contained so many mistakes.
As costume curator to the National Trust of Guernsey, I was asked to mount a small display of local costumes relevant to the church and the anniversary [of St James reopening as a concert and assembly hall 25 years ago]. The display consisted of six women's costumes and one officer's jacket.
It was very definitely not a display of 'military costumes charting the building's passage through time'.
The article also speaks of 'Admiral James de Saumarez', whose proper name was Admiral Sir James Saumarez, and says that he was responsible for the church being built. This also is not correct - the original request to the States of Guernsey was made by Lt-Governor Sir John Doyle. Sir James was only one of several wealthy local men, businessmen and merchants who supported this project.
GILLIAN LENFESTEY,
Costume curator,
National Trust of Guernsey,
Les Adams de Haut,
St Peter's, GY7 9LJ.
GP Editor's footnote: The article was based on information supplied. We regret any inaccuracies. |
Francesca Berriman
Guest
| | Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 02:28 pm: | |
WE WERE delighted to visit Guernsey in February to present one of our premiere awards to a local chartered member based in Guernsey by our president, who is based in Jersey.
Following a full interview, we were disappointed to read that the headline of the 19 February article referred to our chartered member as being an 'architect'. Our qualification is that of chartered architectural technologist and not an architect, which we made clear on the day of the interview to your reporter. It is unfortunate that this was not carried through to the article. However, it is pleasing to see that our institute is referred to correctly although our primary qualification has been listed as architectural technologist rather than chartered architectural technologist, which is a protected title clearly demonstrating that the individual has achieved a level of competence and recognition accorded to their status.
FRANCESCA BERRIMAN,
Chief Executive,
Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists,
397, City Road,
London, EC1V 1NH. |
Steven E. Hainsworth
Guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 02:42 pm: | |
WHAT a fantastic article by Guernsey Press reporter Anna Brehaut on page 13, 24 February 2010, with the headline 'Award rewards with life skills and experience'. (Front-page headlines were 'Three votes from tipping point', by Nick Mann).
The presentation, which took place at Government House on Wednesday 10 February from 6.15 to 7.30pm, was amazing, seeing former fellow schoolmates receiving their awards and speaking to my former teachers added to the already electrifying atmosphere.
I went with my immediate family and we were fortunate enough to have a conversation with the Lt-Governor, Sir Fabian Malbon, who put in the effort to speak to virtually everyone who received a Duke of Edinburgh's bronze award.
It was an honour to meet Sir Fabian and I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone at Oakvale School, my former school, (now Le Murier), for everything because I don't think I would have got this brilliant award without them.
The attitude of Anna and Press photographer Tom Tardif was mature, professional, polite and the way both of them went about doing their job was absolutely amazing to the extent that I felt it necessary to acknowledge that through this letter, with Anna delivering a fantastic article in the aforementioned Press issue and the quality of Tom's photo was outstanding.
That week was a busy week for me because the next day, I went on to pass my driving test (second time lucky).
I would just like to take this cheeky opportunity to say a massive thanks to Belinda Hockey and Paul Priaulx, of Ace Driving School, for all their help as regards my driving lessons and, yet again, without them, as well as my dad and brother, I don't think I would have passed that day.
STEVEN E. HAINSWORTH |
Stuart Walters
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 10:27 am: | |
I REFER to the article published in the Guernsey Press on 13 February concerning the Policy Council inflation outlook report.
The opening paragraph of the article reports that inflation was standing at 2.9% at the end of December 2009.
The Retail Price Index for the end of December 2009, published on the States of Guernsey website, claims that inflation was at 2.2%.
As a pensioner, the difference is significant.
Your comment would be appreciated.
STUART WALTERS.
GP Editor's footnote: The discrepancy relates to the figures for RPI and RPIX. The latter, which stood at 2.9% in December, is the States preferred calculation and is referred to as the core inflation figure, excluding mortgage interest payments. Mr Walters is correct that basic RPI, including mortgage interest, for that period was 2.2%. |
Katina Jones
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 10:26 am: | |
MAY I, on behalf of Wesley Church, say thank you for your continued support of our church community.
The report in the Parish Matters was, however, a little misleading, and I feel it should be put right.
We do have many ongoing projects and one is to update our kitchen and it was reported in your paper that it is more than 20 years old and was second-hand.
I wish to put this straight. The kitchen area was updated nearly 10 years ago and the kitchen units were new and were a donation from Quayside from the NP Group. We were delighted to be so lucky to have this.
But now, as our kitchen is used daily by so many folks, it has worn out in places and we need to replace this. But we are now needing other work in this area and hope to make the kitchen area bigger as we would love to be able to offer more to the community in our area and have more room for our pre-school to do their cookery in as well.
We at Wesley feel very privileged to have been chosen by State Street to help us and we hope from this new beginning, we will be able to work together to help so many in our area.
KATINA JONES,
Senior steward of Wesley Church. |
Linda Adams
Guest
| | Posted on Monday, March 08, 2010 - 03:19 pm: | |
HAVING read the article of Boley Pittard in your newspaper motoring supplement on 25 February, I feel I must correct some errors.
To identify myself, I am Sark born (1939), having lived all my life on Sark as has my mother, Mrs Harriet Carre, aged 91 years.
My mother remembers Dr Pittard.
He and his first wife had a son, Ivor, who married Mary Rebenstoff, and who were the parents of Boley. My mother does not recall Ivor and Mary being deported.
Dr Pittard remarried after his wife's death to Frances Marsden. They lived at La Jaspellerie. Dr Pittard died on 15 June 1942, aged 83. It is, therefore, Mrs Frances Pittard who was deported, not Mary.
I do not recall ever having met Boley but knew his parents, who ran a guesthouse in Sark, as your previous article of 28 January 2010 stated.
I trust you will pass on these details to those concerned.
Thank you.
LINDA ADAMS |
Lee Sebire
Guest
| | Posted on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 02:49 pm: | |
REGARDING the LOOKback column in the Guernsey Press of 16 February, I was interested to read that Rob Batiste described the picture of the lad who had been birched, featured on the front of the 'Island Sun', as being one of 'graphic horror' and that it was 'cruel and agonising'.
No offence, but it looked like nothing worse than what some of us picked up when doing the recent Mud 'n' Fun run. And no one complained one bit about it.
And as for saying that the 'never in my day' types may think again about wishing it was still in use, well, I'm 29 and wish it was still in use, as do a lot of people my age and younger.
P.S. I will be doing the 2012 Mud 'n' Fun run as it was a blast, regardless of any injuries I picked up.
LEE SEBIRE |
Mark Clapham
Guest
| | Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010 - 03:03 pm: | |
I AM writing in connection with the advertising feature about my business, which appeared in The Globe on 27 January. A problem has arisen concerning the use of the word 'specialist' in the article. My profession is quite rightly very strict on the use of the description 'specialist' and its possible misuse. We have an ethical obligation not to mislead in any advertising or indeed any printed matter.
I fully understand why certain terminology was used in the article very innocently.
The word 'specialist' is widely used in our language to describe anything from roofing (specialist), drainage (specialist), etc. I in no way attach any blame to Emily Burden who wrote the piece. In fact, considering the subject matter, I thought she did very well.
The feature had to be written in some haste as the advertising space had already been allocated/sold to me. I was unable to postpone it so there was considerable time pressure involved. I made some alterations to the first draft over the telephone but unfortunately I did not see the finished article until it had gone to print.
So, in conclusion, and for your readers information, I cannot be described as a 'denture specialist' but simply as a clinical dental technician.
MARK CLAPHAM, Dip. CDT, RCS (Eng),
Guernsey Dental Laboratory. |
Sue Whalley
Guest
| | Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010 - 03:03 pm: | |
I QUOTE from the Oxford dictionary: 'gotten: N American past participle of GET. Usage: the form gotten is not used in British English but is very common in North American English, though even there it is often regarded as non-standard.'
So why, in the Guernsey Press on 5 February 2010 were we treated to the headline to a reader's letter that 'bus drivers appear to have gotten their licences via a Kellogg's promotion'?
SUE WHALLEY. |
Paul Le Page
Guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 02, 2010 - 02:25 pm: | |
I WOULD like to thank the Guernsey Press for Shaun Shackleton's excellent and balanced article concerning the facility at St Julian's House. As a frequent critic of the newspaper, it was a delight to read an article that is non-sensational, relevant and highlights a facet of our community so often either unknown or conveniently ignored.
Over the past few years, through my local church, I have had the privilege of making the acquaintance of a number of current and former residents of St Julian's House, some of whom I now consider valued friends. This has afforded me the pleasure of visiting the facility and meeting the staff, both past and present. I have found them, on the whole, to be an extremely professional and caring team who perform an exemplary role in what is by definition a challenging environment. Both they and the residents deserve the public recognition they have received through this article.
Finally, I hope this article will not only dispel some of the myths surrounding St Julian's House; but will also highlight that, despite Guernsey's relative affluence, there remain many that need the care and support of our community. I can only ask that the Guernsey Press continue to bring such important matters to the fore in the excellent manner they have demonstrated on this occasion.
PAUL LE PAGE. |
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