I WAS very pleased to see Michael Gibson’s letter in last week’s Knutsford Guardian.

At least someone is prepared to speak out about the farcical ‘crossing the Lily’ campaign.

As Michael points out, The Heritage Centre holds to a reputable stance which acknowledges that Knut the Great’s connection with Knutsford is, at best, tenuous and belongs in the land of legend.

I have become increasingly dispirited and disappointed by The Knutsford Promenades’ cynical manipulation of an entertaining local tradition for publicity purposes, as they induce yet another quasi celebrity to leap across the Lily.

Given that The Knutsford Promenades’ website states their aim to “promote learning about history and heritage through the performing arts and developing the cultural economy” and given that Knutsford has a rich and varied, verifiable history from the Anglo- Saxons and Vikings through to the present, why then spread misinformation to children and members of the public with little knowledge of early mediaeval history at the risk of the town’s reputation in academic and other historical circles?

Dr Linda M Corrigan Knutsford