I write in response to Mr Slades recent letter following his short stay in Burford ( or should I say Royal Burford! ) and now his return To Tenbury. Yes Burford is truly a place of great significance and hosts the tomb of a Royal princess. Princess Elizabeth lies in Burford Church,, she being the sister of Henry IV. I also understand that when the Princess Victoria visited Tenbury she indeed travelled first through Burford before she famously named Tenbury “ Her little Town in the Orchard “.

That all aside I agree as a resident since 1988 ( although we did spend a few years away, returning again in 1996 ) ,Burfordians are good people and Mr Slades letter has got me to thinking about the contribution that we make to the Tenbury economy. Years ago economists would refer to the balance of payments and they would be regularly discussed on the news. The balance of payments between Burford and Tenbury is not looking too good I fear for us Burfordians. We regularly flock to the Town and spend our currency (still in pounds) and thus make a very positive contribution to Tenburys economy and yet we ask very little in return. You can fuel up your car in Burford, call upon those fine Firefighters in case of an emergency and also use the facilities of our wonderful hospital. I fully appreciate that the latter are technically Worcestershire services albeit in Shropshire but they are on Burford land. I therefore do wonder if there actually should be a small toll paid as Tenbury people cross the bridge into Burford to try and narrow that balance of payments gap.

Having just read Mr Slades book it is also important to note that as a fine upstanding man of the community that he has become and a successful business man, much of his working income came from Burford so I thank Mr Slade for his mainly positive comments on Burford and its gentlefolk and in doing so for the continued peace and understanding of our communities wish all the people of both Burford and Tenbury a very happy new year.

Mark Yarnold

Burfordian