D PENGELLY, of North Embankment, Dartmouth, writes:

I have been closely associated with Dartmouth for nigh on a century and am very jealous of everything that concerns it.

One of my earliest ­recollections was an enormous inlet of the river Dart known as Coombe Mud. It was a dumping area for every conceivable form of rubbish, including the rotting hulks of rotting boats – not a pretty sight.

With the promptings of the American forces, Coombe Mud started its first transformation, leading to the then beautiful Coronation Park. Then, in more modern times, its transformation continued and an ugly toilet block appeared at the north end – bad design, wrong place.

Then, at half way, a pedestrian shelter. Here, I must digress. This shelter is well placed, but its lack of maintenance is a disgrace. At the height of the holiday season a seating slat of wood was missing and four screws were left standing proud of their frame, while the whole seating badly needs painting.

Although I reported the ­matter to the town council, nothing has been done, even though this was reported around a month ago.

I also drew the attention to the gardening staff working nearby. Because of the dangers to would-be sitters, especially after dark, this situation still lurks at the time of writing, but who seems to care? Plenty of money in the rates should accidents occur.

The park is now dominated by an unsightly block of flats, with no apparent sense of urgency to complete.

Moving back to the park, it is littered with deep tyre marks of heavily laden lorries left over from the regatta, with no ­evidence of reinstatement.

Finally, at the north end a modern potential Coombe Mud has just been established, with its litter of rarely used small boats, short dwarf posts and many weeds at present more than two feet high with little prospect of them ever being cut due to its stupid design.

So, lets revert the name of the park to its close ancestor – Coombe Mud.