Sir, – I refer to the letter published in your issue dated February 24 from Mrs Halliday, suggesting that "the age of chivalry has gone in Aviemore", but beg to differ.

Sir, – I attended a meeting last year in Carrbridge concerning the Tam nan Clach wind farm which was referred to in the 'Strathy'last week along with other proposed developments.

Sir, – Well done, I say, to the children who wrote to the 'Strathy' recently to protest about the social menace that is dog-fouling.

Sir, – Prospective Westminster Labour candidate, Mike Robb, embraced the merits of wind energy generation in his letter of February 10 in your newspaper.

Sir, – What would we do without the Lecht? CairnGorm Mountain, if they can be bothered to get the roads open, can't get the funicular running.

Sir, – Firstly, I fully agree with recent complaints on dog fouling. There is no excuse for owners not 'picking up'.

Sir, – Who decides on our safety? Over the last month or so we have all encouraged the worst winter conditions for many years in Badenoch and Strathspey.

Sir, – As a regular enthusiastic visitor to Aviemore I am so very sad that the Aviemore Walking Festival has been cancelled.

Sir, – We are disgusted at the amount of dog dirt in and around Nethy Bridge.

Sir, – I am writing to complain about Highland Council wasting taxpayers' money. They say they are strapped for cash but yet they are wasting it right, left and centre.

Sir, – Wind power? It's a dud! We have just experienced a month of Arctic weather conditions, and in our efforts to keep ourselves warm our fuel bills will have soared.

Sir, – Further to a previous letter regarding the state of the roads and the need of an ambulance.

Sir, – My son leaves Inverness every morning to deliver coal to the Badenoch and Strathspey area, including the likes of Tomintoul, Glenlivet and Ballindalloch.

Sir, – I am dismayed at this week's announcement that the Beauly-Denny power line has the go-ahead.

Sir, – I feel I have to write in response to Mr R. Clark and Ms K. Ligertwood's letter of January 6 about the council's lack of action carried out during these adverse weather conditions.

Sir, – I should like to bring to your readers attention the current plight of the Kingussie ducks at the Glebe Pond.

Sir, – This a joint letter to you from two friends who wish to raise the same concern and points of order within your publication.

Sir, – I read, with interest, about the new rescue plan for the funicular railway ('Strathy', December 9, 2009).

Sir, - Reading articles regarding SRDP payments and National Park initiatives, towards helping the decline in wading and other bird numbers, I do not think any or very little of it will work.

Sir, - In reference to "Strategic Review" in Issue 13 of the CNPA's "Parklife", your concerned readers should know that the public have not been consulted properly.

Sir, - It is now clear that Highland Council is to push for a pay freeze for much of it lower paid workers next year. At the same time, part-privatisation and cuts to essential and much-needed services are also under active consideration from the Indy/Labour/Liberal council.

Sir, - Three weeks ago in this newspaper, our local councillors promised to meet with us. Since then we have heard nothing from them.

Sir, – I refer to the report on the Cairngorm Farmers' Market in the Strathy recently, and would like to correct misapprehensions in various quarters regarding the concerns of the Grantown Community Council.

Sir, – It's probably true bringing the steam railway line into Grantown won't increase tourist trade by a great deal but I still think it should still go ahead regardless.

Sir, – Like Christmas, there was euphoria in the air and apparent 100% unanimity amid the crowd at the Grant Arms meeting of the 'Rails to Grantown' project.

Sir, – Following shocking financial miscalculation and misrepresentation, attempts are apparently still being made to exaggerate the benefits of the funicular, which has to date cost the taxpayer over £23 million.

Sir, – The wind farm firm Nanclach responded a few weeks ago in the 'Strathy' to remarks that I and others made about the effects of wind farms on tourism.

Sir, – It has come to our attention that colonies of feral cats have become rampant in and around Nethy Bridge and Grantown.

Sir, – For many years the euphemistically named "street furniture" has been an absolute hazard for disabled and less mobile members of our communities.

Sir, – I would like to respond to Elizabeth Main's letter which appeared in last week's "Strathy".

Sir, – What exactly is the column 'Whelan's World' for?

Sir, – I am writing following on from the Strathy's editorial on the blanket ban of signs on trunk roads.

Sir, – Re Angus McKain's letter of October 21 in the Strathspey Herald, complaining about the shopping disappointment when he visited Grantown.

Sir, – Reference the article on the Cairngorm Funicular Railway (Strathy, October 14). I also read the full Audit Scotland report, which made interesting reading.

Sir, – I have just returned from a very nice weekend in Carrbridge. However, on a visit to Grantown on Saturday afternoon I was very disappointed with the general run-down appearance of the place.

Sir, – Please can I ask for your assistance with the problem of dog fouling on the pavements in Grantown?

Sir, – I write in response to a letter posted by Gordon Young of the Pentland Golf Association who had such a disastrous annual weekend break in Aviemore (last week's Letters to the Editor).

Sir, – Inverness and District Trades Union Council warmly welcomed the prominence given by the "Strathy", to the essentially moral, legal and political issue of the National Minimum Wage and the associated illegality of misappropriation of customers' tips to "top it up" to that level rather than to supplement it.

Sir, – I just wanted to write and tell you that I think a huge pat on the back should be given to the person or people who tend all of the hanging baskets and flower displays in Aviemore.

Sir, – As a north of Scotland Golf Association, we have enjoyed our annual weekend breaks over nearly 40 years – many of them in Speyside.

Sir, – I wonder how many people are like me when they go to the library and whilst browsing the shelves of books looking for inspiration often pick up and take out one of the new titles which sit on top of the bookcases begging to be read.

Sir, – Your readers know that swathes of the population are conflicted by the potential industrialisation of Scotland's wild open spaces – the impact of wind farms on tourism, fisheries and wildlife – and the accepted need to reduce carbon emissions.

Sir, – I write in response to the letter in last week's Strathy headlined "Burial anger" regarding the "cremated burials" by Loch Garten.

Sir, – In response to the statement from Mr Donald Somerville, the clerk to Highland Council's licensing board, which was printed in last week's "Strathy", I wish to point out that they were not only inaccurate but knowingly false and need to be corrected.

Sir, – I am writing regarding the recent letter in the "Strathy" from Mark Allan about there being no where in Aviemore for children to play.

Sir, – I cannot believe the hypocrisy of local MP Danny Alexander in last week's Strathy – 'MP hits at delays in road upgrades'.

Sir, – I was horrified to discover no fewer than three cremated burials in a local beauty spot, on the shores of Loch Garten near the entrance to the RSPB reserve.

Sir, – It is sad to feel compelled to write to complain about students from Grantown Grammar School. No doubt the offenders that have caused this missive are in the minority.

Sir, – It was good that MP Danny Alexander and Highland Councillor Dave Fallows highlighted the peculiarities of the prices for rail tickets.

Sir, – I'm writing after reading Mrs Minto's letter in last week's 'Strathy'. I have had the same problem as Mrs Minto, and have found myself having to drive my kids through to Kingussie just to have a game of tennis.

Sir, – With regard to the proposed Allt Duine (and other) wind farms, it is apparent that the Kincraig beneficiaries have swallowed the developer's greenwash on the need for such monstrosities.

Sir, – Aviemore is a wonderful place and tourists are well catered for but what about sports facilities for the residents?

Sir, – The Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority's planning committee, Duncan Bryden, reminds us that full details of Jonny Freshwater's planning application are a matter of public record. Indeed they are.

Sir, – Thank you, Danny Alexander and the 'Strathy', for raising the issue of unfair fares for passengers using Carrbridge and other stations in the strath.

Sir, – While Cameron McNeish's opposition to wind farms has been frequently well aired in his column in the 'Strathy', his remarks in last week's column (August 5, 2009) on the proposed Allt Duine wind farm require some clarification and correction.

Sir, – Much has been made in recent weeks of the eyesore derelict buildings on the south entry to Aviemore, and quite right too, as it has been a disgrace for a number of years.

Sir, – Our LibDem Westminster MP and leader of Alexander's Ragtime Band continues to produce bum notes in his increasingly frantic attempts to fend off the challenge of SNP councillor John Finnie, come next year's elections.

Sir, – I have been following the correspondences in your columns about recent planning applications, and I attended the most recent CNPA planning meeting.

Sir, – Aviemore and Vicinity Community Council is disappointed at the decision made by the CNPA planning committee on the proposed development at North Dalfaber.

Sir, – Over the last 40 years I have been a frequent visitor to Strathspey and I have family and local links to the area.

Sir, – May I commend the "Strathy" on last week's wonderful front page story where hydro-electric workers were honoured with placing a magnificent bronze sculpture of an eagle on the hillside of their labours.

Sir, – Well done to Cameron McNeish ("Strathy", July 15) for highlighting the disparity in the manner in which planning applications are seemingly being dealt with by the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

Sir, - Re the Camas Mor planning application, it seems quite incredible to me that the Cairngorms National Park Board should even be considering plonking a new town bang in the middle of a national park. Is the park board quite out of its mind? What other UK national park, either 1954-formed under the Town & Country Planning Act or thereafter, would even be thinking of putting a huge urban settlement right in its midst?

Sir, – I read with amusement Lib Dem councillor Gregor Rimell's letter 'rebuking' you for failing, in your coverage of Strathspey Thistle's planning hearing, to give him the column inches he felt his few words in chamber merited.

Sir, – I am deeply concerned as to the condition of one of the Cairngorms National Park's greatest finest beauty spots, the beach at Loch Morlich and the forest area adjoining including many ancient pines.

Sir, - I returned home last week and turned to the “Strathy” to update myself on what had been going on in the local area.
I was pleased to read that a ceremony had taken place in Kingussie’s Duke of Gordon Gardens on June 22 to mark the beginning of a week of events and celebrations leading up to Armed Forces Day on June 27.
My wife informed me that she had been present alongside a number of servicemen, dignitaries and locals for the Armed Forces Day flag raising ceremony.
My pleasure was short lived, however, when my wife added that the flag raised during the ceremony had remained in place for only a couple of hours before it was removed.
Armed Forces Day on June 27 was supposed to be an opportunity for the nation to collectively show its support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community.
I would like to have seen the Union Flag still flying on June 27 in recognition of the sacrifices I and my colleagues past and present have made. Flying a flag for a meagre two hours on the previous Monday seems a half-hearted effort.
Perhaps someone can provide a satisfactory explanation which will serve to reduce my disappointment (and I hope that explanation does not include reference to a one-off incident of vandalism which occurred in the gardens last year)? Yours etc,

Sir, – Whatever the rights and wrongs of the allegations made against staff at the Wade Centre in Kingussie, and the motives for doing so, Highland Council has an absolute duty to investigate them.

Sir, – I was travelling through Strathspey around 12 noon on Saturday, July 4, as I have done many times before, when my wife and I were almost wiped out by a truck driving on the wrong side of the road as we came out of Carrbridge heading up the hill towards the A9 junction.

Sir, - Re your front page article in last week’s “Strathy” “Home care on the brink”. I dispute Rev Helen Cook’s comments regarding the quality of the home carers unless she is only referring to Kingussie.

Sir, - Re your front page article last week about the home care service in Badenoch and Strathspey. I would like to state that I have an excellent carer who comes in every morning to take in coal and remove the ashes.

Sir, - I’d like to commend the Highland Council and particularly the local community leaders who brought the Craig MacLean Leisure Centre to Grantown.

Sir, - I write to urge your readers to please remember that Old Speybridge Road in Grantown is not a racetrack. Too many users, fishermen and locals alike, have been travelling too fast down this no-through road lately.

SIR, – I THINK that in her letter in last week’s (17 June) Strathy, Highland Councillor Jaci Douglas doth protest too much especially about the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.

Sir, – RE: the proposed development of 30 houses at Milton Wood at the top of Grampian View in Aviemore.

Sir, – For a couple of years we have noticed a complete lack of earthworms in our garden here – part cultivated, part semi-woodland.

Sir, – The accession of Strathspey Thistle to the Highland League is generating more heat than light. It has tempted an Inverness councillor and the council’s SNP leader John Finnie to stray off his own patch to seek political gain.

Sir, – I am writing to highlight the dangers of some dogs and their irresponsible owners.

Sir, – I am writing with regard to the article on Strathspey Thistle's successful application before the planning committee, which was on the front page of last week's 'Strathy'.

Sir, – Once again, having spent a few days in Grantown which I normally do on an annual basis, a visit to the town museum was very much on the agenda.

Sir, – What is going on in Aviemore? Our GPs want to create a new and presumably much smaller health centre – unless it's built three storeys high – on the site of the existing village hall.

Sir, – When looking through an old "Badenoch Record" recently (dated June 6, 1931), I came across the report entitled: 'County Officials' Travelling Expenses.'

Sir, – Following on from last week's front page story, before any parents sign the letter sent out by Aviemore primary's school council asking for their support in hurrying through the plans for the new community school, they should ask themselves a few questions?

Sir, – Although we are two of the "concerned local residents" but certainly not vociferous and are pleased to recognise the achievement of Strathspey Thistle being invited to join the Highland League.

Sir, – There has been a lot of debate in your paper recently regarding the use of the Black Park (now Seafield Park) in Grantown, and S. Samuel's recent correspondence incorrectly states that the park has not been a football field for 50 years.

Sir, – I suppose that in these times of preoccupation with the expenses of our MPs it is a good thing that Danny Alexander has put his expenses online for everyone to see.

Sir, – Last Tuesday (May 26), I attended a Local Plan Inquiry hearing about the Cairngorms National Park Authority's (CNPA) Grantown Local Plan.

Sir, – I refer to the letter "A time for harmony" in the May 27 edition from Gordon Fraser of MacDonald Hotels and Resorts, where he complains of leaks of discussions.

Sir, – The boundary changes announced this week, which will see Badenoch and Strathspey split into two, with Aviemore, Kingussie and Newtonmore lumped in with Fort William, Skye and Dingwall, are ill thought-out at best, and simply lunatic at worst.

Sir, – I was disappointed to read the report in last week's 'Strathy' about the issue of "community gain" which suggested that there was a major difference between Aviemore Highland Resort (AHR) and the community.

Sir, – As a Grantonian for more than 70 years, I feel that I should be given the space to reply to Mr Rob Clark's letter.

Sir, – Regards "Market plans refused" in last week's "Strathy" – Northern Constabulary, Highland Council and their TEC services had no objection, so who has?

Sir, – I hope you will grant me the right of reply to S. Samuels' letter in last week's "Strathy". I find it astonishing that anyone has an objection to Strathspey Thistle trying to take a major positive move by entering the Highland League. As a result they will also form at least two youth teams at under-13 and under-16 levels at a time when the complaint of most do-gooders is that there is nothing for the young ones to do.

Sir, - In reply to your front page article "Final whistle looms for Thistle bid" and also the leader (page two), I would appreciate the opportunity to correct the inaccuracies and misleading comments contained in these article:

Sir, – Compared to national averages, the Cairngorm National Park contains more people age 60 or over (24 per cent in 2001, national average 21 per cent).

Sir, - The UFO described over Nethy Bridge (Strathy, April 22, page three) might have been created by a light beam directed onto the cloud base. Has this possibility been excluded? – Yours etc,

Sir, - I was disappointed to see the negative letter from Kevin Hodges (Strathy, April 29) which is highly critical of the Grantown Community Council. His many inaccuracies and misleading comments invite correction.

Sir, – With regards to Susan McDonald's letter in last week's "Strathy" - what a lot of poppycock!

Sir, – Further to my letter to the Strathy on April 22 suggesting 'average speed check' cameras on the A9, the headline in "The Times" of April 21 is "speed limit to be cut in bid to save 1,000 lives".

Sir, – I am writing having just read with interest your front page story "Building bricks for future" about a symbolic laying of bricks on our playing field which is the proposed site of the new Aviemore community school.

Sir, – Your report "A lorra lorries of wood in Aviemore" in last week's Strathy on proposals to install a wood-burning power plant in the Cairngorm Technology Park in Aviemore raises a number of concerns.

Sir, – I would just like to ask that if the 'Strathy' is not affiliated with any political party (that's my understanding), then why is Charlie Whelan allowed to do his spinning about Gordon Brown in said 'Strathy'?

Sir, – I'm fully in agreement that building houses opposite the Grantown Caravan Park site is utterly crazy (Strathy, April 15, Park under fire for plans to zone wildlife haven for housing). Apart from spoiling the outlook from the sight, putting houses on a bog is stupid.

Sir, – Re "Road reminder for at-risk A9 drivers", (Strathy, April 15), having my home in Bromley, Kent, and my mother staying in Newtonmore, I regularly make the long drive north.

Sir, - As your Labour correspondent Charlie Whelan is implicated in the production of the scurrilous emails by Damien McBride at 10 Downing Street, I trust (not a word the special advisor or political officer group would recognise) that you will ensure his rapid exit from your team. Perhaps across the railing of the Moet roof garden on the 10th floor of Strathy Towers!

It really is outrageous that Cairngorm Mountain would ever consider selling off our precious snow to over-heated clients in the Middle East. Obviously the snow-grabbing Sheikh (pictured in your edition on April 1) has never heard of the Siberian Swap System where buckets of snow are freely exchanged for buckets of sunshine.

Sir, – The Age of Stupid is a gripping must-see 90-minute film about climate change. In it Oscar-nominated British actor Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: "Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?"

Sir, – A lot of people are getting very upset about the number of pylons in the Cairngorms National Park – so many that they are starting to bother me.

Sir, – Ignoring local history can have disconcerting consequences. Grantown's public recreation area, The Black Park (also known since the 1960s as "Seafield Park"), is a case in point.

Sir, – I refer to your news story appearing on Wednesday, March 25, headlined "Man's Celtic songs enraged Gers' fans".

Sir, – Pagans across Scotland were saddened to hear of the recent incidents at Grantown Baptist Church.

Sir, - In reply to Mr Murray's letter "UFOs? Don't think so" (February 11), we have been to Lochindorb on a number of occasions when the loch was frozen and breaking up. The noises from the ice were very eerie and almost musical.

Sir, - I find myself upset both by the headline of this article and deacons statement which appeared as "Police probe 'pagan' attacks on church" in the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald (March 4, 2009)

Sir, - It seems that the Government is considering lowering the national road speed limit on single carriageways from 60mph to 50mph. This is long overdue but it clearly does not go far enough.