WITH regard to my letter about alternative routes to the coast, I fully appreciate Paul Hepworth’s comments regarding cyclists.

As an ex-cyclist myself, I find it wonderful to see so many cyclists out in the Wolds lanes, fully kitted out and correctly observing the Highway Code.

Also, I think he would find the vast majority of motorists driving carefully, being simply out in the countryside to enjoy the lovely scenery.

Of course there would be the occasional fast driver, but one cannot condemn everyone without knowing the reason for this.

Unfortunately the halcyon days of the late 1940s and 1950s are long gone.

The lanes in those days were almost traffic free, the horse still being prominent in use both in the fields and on the roads, pulling carts.

So apart from the odd Ferguson or Fordson tractor, farm wagon, or small flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, the lanes were almost empty and free to be appreciated fully in the best way, by the cyclist or hiker, to enjoy the wonderful scenery, sounds and smells of the countryside.

Nostalgia, yes, and to quote the lovely old Irish song, The Kerry Dance, “oh those wonderful days of gladness, gone alas like our youth too soon”.

Dennis Bradley, White Rose Grove, New Earswick, York