IT is a pleasure to see from the letter from Mr Pearce (Ripon Gazette, May 16) that the Fairy Steps are to be protected from further flood damage.

While it is true that the steps were adapted during the First World War, the steps at the time were constructed from cobbles, as was the normal practice at that period to help horses pull loads up inclines. the steps in their present form were constructed in 1933/34 as a memorial to the soldiers who trained in that area, many of whom did not return.

It was Ripon Council of the period who decided that this should be done. My grandfather, George Noakes, who was employed as a paver by Ripon Corporation, was given the job.

Although I was young at the time – eight years old – I can remember being taken to see his handiwork which was one of the last jobs before his retirement in early 1934.