No-one likes travel disruption, and the proposed all-day closure of the main A65 road through the district will no doubt be bad news for many commuters and motorists.

However, this proposed closure is to accommodate the Tour de France cycle race that will pass through Ilkley this summer, and perhaps we can all agree to put up with a little bit of disruption for something so prestigious.

There will, obviously be severe delays and disruption not only on the main road but also on associated routes on July 5, and Ilkley will effectively be “cut in two” for an entire day, with only emergency services being given access and pedestrians allowed to cross when the race isn’t coming through. But the Tour de France coming to the area is a huge feather in our cap and surely it is something we can cope with for one day. As Bradford Council’s Network Co-ordinator Darren Badrock told a public meeting in the town, we should expect to treat July 5 as we would a bad snow day, when routes become difficult to negotiate or even impassable. We manage to cope with the worst the winter weather throws at us, though we do like to grumble about it, so we should be able to handle a road closure in the height of summer.

And hopefully the benefits the Tour de France brings – increased visitor numbers to the town and hopefully a boost to the local economy – should far outweigh the disruption.

Appeal for more Guiding volunteers

In an area which has such as admirable record when it comes to the volunteering, and is known as a great place for children to grow up, it is sad to learn that some youngsters could be denied a chance to take part in fun and educational activities.

Recruiting volunteers is never easy, especially given the busy lives many people lead today, which mean they simply do not have any spare time to commit to voluntary work. With so much enthusiasm locally for joining Girl Guiding – plus plenty of beautiful landscape on our doorstep for outdoor activities – it might come as a surprise to some to learn that local units are at risk of closing down altogether. Frequent appeals are made to find leaders for Brownies and Guides groups in the area. Sadly, there are still too few to give all girls who want to join the chance to take part in the life-enriching activities provided by these groups. Parents of the members themselves are the obvious source of potential recruits, but there are others in the community whose help would also be warmly welcomed.

Of course, those who may have some time to spare may be discouraged by the idea they could very quickly be expected to commit a large amount of their free time to leading one of these groups.

But as well as dedicated leaders, local Girl Guiding units could also benefit from having short-term help, to enable them to go on trips and attend various events.

Anyone who is at all considering doing voluntary work for the community, and would like to help young people, is certainly urged to get in touch with Girlguiding Wharfedale.