I AM writing in response to the letter by Mr John Timpson in last week's Times, with reference to roads in and out of Tavistock. It is a sad sign of the times that people would like to see more roads built and speed limits increased.

I am in the armed forces and have lived locally all my life. When not on active service I travel to Plymouth daily, at present, a journey of 20 minutes when leaving the house at 06.45 and a homeward journey of 45 minutes. No great hardship!

I travel to Exeter every weekend either via the A386 or across the moors, a journey of approximately one hour.

My biggest problems on all these journeys are being castigated by impatient drivers or being forced off the roads by lorries thundering along to provide trade to Tavistock.

Perhaps Mr Timpson would like to see the A386 and Whitchurch Road turned into dual-carriageways and a motorway ploughed across the moors for his convenience. Also, we could dispense with the lollipop man on Callington Road and let the children take their chances. Even better if we up the speed limit.

I know some people like to pop out the door straight into a car and right into work the other end. If people choose to live in the country they must accept longer journeys and minor roads. If city roads are so much better, perhaps Mr Timpson should consider moving there.

Tavistock is a beautiful town and in my opinion will be better served by a more efficient public transport system including the return of the railway.

D Cross

Tavistock

MR TIMPSON had some valid words of wisdom, but to say the lollipop man causes long delays is very wrong.

This man is the only person that looks after our children and without his devotion to duty there could be a lot more accidents to a child.

Does Mr Timpson, have any children?

Sixteen years ago there was a promise of an underpass or a flyover, where there are now lights, so people should blame the right people and leave our lollipop man alone.

Mrs M C Carpenter

Buctor Park

Tavistock

YOUR correspondent Mr Timpson appears to have taken a double dose of pessimism pills before writing his letter.

Tavistock, he claims, is on the one hand suffering from inadequate, congested roads and on the other is cut off from the outside world because there are too few signs to tell people where it is.

There seems to be a slight contradiction here. Presumably, if the signs were increased so would the congestion, and the prospect of this being eased by a new road to Plymouth, another to the A30, and a bypass, is, I'm afraid, the stuff of fantasy.

However, despite the fact that what he says is undoubtedly true, how is it that during the tourist season you cannot move in Tavistock for thousands of visitors from all over the UK, indeed from all over the world?

What would be the results if the town was provided with improved access road, and was signposted at every major junction in the area? In my opinion — chaos! Parking would become much more difficult, public services stretched to the limit, the lack of public loos certainly more critical, and the sheer weight of people simply unbearable. The town would literally choke to a standstill. Not the ideal environment for running a business.

The answer? In the short-term Tavistock, like many hundreds of market towns throughout England struggling to accommodate modern traffic on medieval roads, will have to cope with the increasing discomfort until, in the long-term, the inevitable decline of the car begins to ease the situation. Apparently, this will happen sooner than most people think.

John Deards

Walkham Cottages

Horrabridge