Don’t drive tourists to the north-east – we won’t cope

In response to your editorial (The Guardian view on the glories of the north-east: deserving of a wider audience, 29 March), the last thing we want is a deluge of tourists coming to spoil the beauty and tranquillity of this region.

While increasing numbers of visitors will bolster businesses that serve them, observing the static half-mile queue of cars trying to get into Alnwick Gardens at the weekend shows what the unbridled expansion of tourism will do to this region.

Many of those stuck in that queue will have come to Alnwick via the A1 and will have suffered the traffic reduced to a crawl on this two-way road, which successive national governments have promised to fully dual, but failed to deliver.

One section of the road north from Morpeth is a dual carriageway, which was built in the 1930s to see whether dual carriageways worked. It was sufficiently remote from London in case it was an embarrassment. As for the local people who have to cross this road, or use short stretches of it to just get around, their needs are so far below our politicians’ radar that they clearly don’t count.

If the north-east is to thrive as it deserves to, turning it into a tourist hotspot such as the Lake District or Cornwall will serve no one. Yes, let’s share the glories of the hills and coast, the deep history and the architectural gems in a sustainable and proportionate way. But to do so, we need the infrastructure first.
Tom Carr
Newcastle upon Tyne

• Those of us who live here in the north-east love our hills, moors, coastline and islands, and are happy to share them with visitors, recognising the economic importance of tourism to the area. Your editorial lists various attractions in the region, but a glaring omission is the Lindisfarne Gospels, because they are not kept in the north-east. Various reasons are given for this, but none really stand up.

The gospels would be a huge addition to the list of things to see and do in the region. A suitable space could be found or constructed, and the gospels could come home, with the benefits that would bring.
Mary Finn
Morpeth, Northumberland

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