IT’S ALL well and good for the powers that be to upgrade the A64 into a dual carriageway, but unless they propose driving the traffic straight into the North Sea, the traffic will form into one gigantic queue as it approaches Scarborough as the build-up of cars jostle for parking places.

By removing all the pinch-point on the A64, we would simply open the floodgates, creating a tidal wave of cars.

Fifty years ago, the Sunday school trip from Poppleton involved a slow ride through the centre of York and over one of the inner city bridges, with a stop-over in Malton for an eagerly anticipated breakfast and finally arriving at the coast late morning.

Down to the beach, sandwiches for dinner and a bottle of pop – fish and chips if you were lucky.

A stop-over at Malton for a light tea and back home.

From the anticipation of the trip and the weeks of talk afterwords, it was an enjoyable time by the seaside.

The journey was an important part of the day, singing, laughter, I Spy, a real communal atmosphere.

Now people travel in isolation.

Ear-phones in, DVD player on, mobile phones in their hands – no anticipation, no looking forward, no mixing, no socialising – just a trip to the seaside.

D M Deamer, Penleys Grove Street Monkgate, York.