Thank you for your extensive coverage of the work of the Friends of Colchester Roman Wall in preserving our town’s great Heritage (Gazette, April 17) and for the very supportive editorial.

May I, however, correct one point. We have been working very happily in conjunction with the council from the outset.

The council’s museum services department, with generous support from English Heritage, has been repairing sections of the wall for some time. Indeed, it will shortly begin work to repair the wall in the Balkerne Hill area.

This is a never-ending task, like painting the Forth Bridge used to be.

The days when “the council”

(code for us council taxpayers) was expected to do everything are long gone.

The Friends are in the business of improving the setting of the wall. We are fundraising for the 13 interpretation boards mentioned in the Gazette article.

We also pushed for the removal of the advertisement hoardings in Middleborough.

In both cases, though, the borough council is responsible for the implementation.

Kindly, you urged residents and business to get behind us. We hope to get more Friends and more supporters.

To contact our treasurer, or me, go to www.romanwall.org Thank you.

Henry Spyvee
Councillor
Chairman
Friends of Colchester Roman Wall

...I read with interest your editorial pointing out the information boards idea for the Roman walls should be the responsibility of the council and not volunteers.

Why not? Surely this is exactly the “Big Society”

David Cameron is trying to tap in to? Without our volunteers manning hospital friends’ stalls at the general hospital, collecting for charity on street corners and, as in Brightlingsea, patrolling the promenade for vandalism, our country would not be the place it is.

So, more power to the people, and the more volunteers who are willing to give up their valuable time for no monetary reward the better.

They are worth 1,000 times more than elected councillors and MPs.

Jonathan Prowse
Spring Road
Brightlingsea