Campaigners hope to preserve public access to Shute Barton manor house
- Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Campaigners opposing the National Trust’s plans for the permanent closure to the public of the Shute Barton medieval manor house are due to meet a Trust official later this week.
A petition set up to fight the controversial proposal quickly reached more than 750 signatures and the issue made headlines in the national press.
The protest was triggered when the National Trust announced in a letter to Shute Barton volunteer guides that the house would become exclusively a holiday property and that the general public would no longer be able to access it. The letter, from David Ford, the Trust’s general manager for South and East Devon properties, also informed Shute Barton guides that their services would no longer be required. The Trust blamed Covid-related cutbacks for the closure. The decision was made without any public consultation.
1 March 2021 • 12:01am
A hairdresser at work in Vienna, but April 12 is the earliest salons may open in England
Credit: LISI NIESNER/REUTERS
SIR – We are concerned that the fiscal impact of the Government’s lockdown measures on women is being overlooked.
The virus has taken its toll on a great many people in Britain, but a significant number of female employers, entrepreneurs and employees are being affected – and the damage could take decades to repair.
More women than men work in sectors that have shut down. Mothers are almost 50 per cent more likely than fathers to have lost their jobs or been forced to leave because school closures have created a childcare crisis.
Letters: The family left the house after 400 years but now the public can t visit telegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from telegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
26 February 2021 • 12:01am
A teacher gives a creative writing class at Roath Park primary school in Cardiff, Wales
Credit: Matthew Horwood /Getty
SIR – Mandatory wearing of masks after the end of lockdown must be rejected. Face masks are vile, dehumanising devices. Nothing better exemplifies a continued divergence from “normality”.
When the majority of the population has been vaccinated, including all the high risk groups, masks should no longer be compulsory.
John Wainwright
SIR – There should be clarity about the law, which must be obeyed, and what is guidance, which we may follow at our discretion (“Schools told they cannot force pupils to wear masks,” report, February 25). Currently even policemen are confused.
N P Scott
Masks in class
SIR – When I heard that all pupils were to return to school on March 8, I was filled with hope. However, this turned to dismay when I read that masks will be required in secondary school classrooms (report, February 24).
As a teacher, I will not be able to carry out my job effectively if the faces that tell me whether my pupils are confused, happy or bored are covered. This is the last thing that young people need after a year of isolation, educational disruption and uncertainty about the future.
Boris Johnson said last August that masks in classrooms were “nonsensical”. I agree, as do many other teachers and parents. There is little evidence that this measure has much effect in schools, but it will have a severe impact on the learning experience of all secondary pupils.