IT is with a very heavy heart that I write to you with regard to the short-sighted, selfish and uncompromising people who have voiced unjustified concern over Castlemorton Common and the possibility of introducing cattle grids.

I live on Castlemorton Common with my husband and five children. Once a farm, now a smallholding, the farm has been in my husband's family for generations and it is the result of those generations of a few local farming families which have produced the common we love today.

We graze cattle on the common from spring to winter - we turn them out in the morning and bring them home at night. Using the common as a way of life gives you a real sense of appreciation of that vast space out there. Only when things go wrong do you see the dangers that also lie in wait in this otherwise tranquil setting. Several times last summer we had phone calls from neighbouring residents/farmers, warning us that our cattle were heading for the main road, or had just crossed the main road. This causes us huge anxiety as we all know the speed cars and lorries travel along the Gloucester Road and it doesn't take many minutes to cause an accident.

If the common had not been grazed by local farmers over generations, there would not be a common - it's as simple as that. Oak and birch trees would hide our views to the hills and bramble and fern would have taken over every pathway. People would never have experienced the luxuries that are taken so much for granted today - those glorious dog walks, flying of kites, hang gliders, the pony riders and the exercising of those magnificent horses.

If the common is not managed now, the very near future is bleak - it will mean that all the above leisure activity will be pleasures of the past. History shows those closest to the Common, who live by it, in it, work it, understand it and appreciate it. It is because of these facts, others can benefit and enjoy the beauty of it.

All I ask is for people to think hard about where their loyalties lie. Do you really understand all the issues? Does a slight inconvenience really reduce the pleasures otherwise enjoyed by so many? How selfish are your reasons/objections - what about the potential of the area for your grandchildren or your retirement? Is it just the "good weather" folk who grab a few sunny days twice a year to walk the common who know best?

Take time to think, not just for yourselves but for others, not just for now, but for the future. Next time the sun shines - look across the common and be like me, be led by your heart.

JILL JAKEMAN, Castlemorton.