Readers’ Letters

The Oldie, 23–31 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PA letters@theoldie.co.uk To sign up for our e-newsletter, go to www.theoldie.co.uk

Downton Abbey’s big debt

SIR: In his letter in the June issue, Anthony Evans is quite correct that the remarkable Grade I-listed Palladian house Basildon Park was extensively used during the making of both Downton Abbey and Belgravia – as were numerous other National Trust and privately owned historical buildings across Britain.

At a time when the Trust is experiencing political difficulties, it is appropriate to acknowledge that the period film and television dramas for which this country is world renowned would be unviable without the extraordinary properties under the Trust’s care, or indeed the civic commitment of its legions of volunteers. Yours, Gareth Neame, Executive Producer Downton Abbey and Belgravia

‘This view is extra, sir’

Smarties show their metal

SIR: Regarding Philip Norman’s article about the Smarties tubes (June issue), I remember the predecessor of the plastic caps. It was thin metal – aluminium, I think − which used to squash out of shape with the grip needed to remove it. This, combined with the paper-thin tube, made it almost impossible to replace for later consumption.

The boxes I remember getting only in my Christmas stocking. Richard J Pickering, Leicester

I was Kinky, too

SIR: What a delight to read a piece about another Kinks fan’s reminiscences (June issue). Elaine Pittuck and I must have been at the same gigs. Indeed, the Walthamstow Granada was the place where I became a Kinks fan in November 1964.

I was luckier than Elaine, though, as I was one of the winners of a Kinks fanclub competition and got to meet the boys in May 1965.

It’s not John Dalton in the photo, but Pete Quaife, the original bassist. John joined when Pete left the band.

Still Kinky after all these years. Olga Ruocco, Basildon, Essex

Cheltenham first

SIR: I am surprised that Valerie Grove thinks that the Bedford Square Book Bang in 1971 was the first British literary festival.

The Cheltenham Literary Festival, launched in October 1949, was the first not only in Britain but in the world.

I was born in October 1949, near to Cheltenham, and feel quite proprietorial about the festival.

There is life outside London… Yours, Wendy Edmond, Slawston, Leicestershire

Virginia’s Golden Years

SIR: It was good to read the article on Virginia McKenna (June issue). I remember the films mentioned in it.

I was surprised that the film she made in 2016 was not mentioned. It is called Golden Years. It is a wonderful British comedy concerning a group of oldies who get the better of the system that deprived them of their pension. The film starred, as well as Virginia McKenna, Bernard Hill, Simon Callow, Sue Johnston, Una Stubbs and other well-known faces. In these troubled times, it is good to see a feelgood film especially relevant to our generation. I can recommend it. Yours sincerely, Robin Wood, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire

The Lion queen

SIR: It is always a wonderful experience to see a beautiful smile on the face of a beautiful woman. When I saw the photograph of Virginia McKenna and the lion cub in your June edition I just had to smile back! Yours, Gabriel Lavelle, Milton-underWychwood, Oxfordshire

SIR: In the interview with Leslie Caron (June issue), she is quoted as saying that, after an incident at the 1962 BAFTAs, ‘Tom Bell never worked in films again … he was totally banished from films’.

Tom Bell’s Wikipedia entry lists about 40 films that he appeared in after 1962, though of course his may have been only minor roles. Peter Fry, Witney, Oxfordshire

An archer writes

SIR: In your June issue, Stephen Glover in his Media Matters column says that News UK has ‘other bows in its quiver’. I think not; it may have ‘more strings to its bow’ or, possibly, ‘more arrows in its quiver’. Yours faithfully, David Maddock (once a keen archer), Fleet, Hampshire

‘And it all ends up in the cloud’

What a lovely Storey

SIR: I was delighted to see the thorough review (June issue) devoted to David Storey’s last book, published years after his death. We in Wakefield held in high regard a man who never forgot his roots, as a council-house boy

‘I’m an urban fox during the week – rural at weekends’

who passed a scholarship to our grammar school.

Forty years ago, Brian, my brother, a fellow pupil, spotted a photo of a girl dying on an Ethiopian rubbish dump and resolved to ‘do something’. With friends and brothers, he started collecting money at churches and setting up all sorts of concerts (Charlie Williams was a great supporter).

What became known as the Suzy Fund has now raised over £1 million, our principle being ‘no overheads’.

In October 1996, Brian arranged what he called a five-minute evening in Wakefield Town Hall, with an array of speakers, all limited to five minutes. He invited David, who, unable to take part, asked to be informed of how the event went.

Proudly I wrote, telling him we had raised £2,350, all of it to be used in alleviating suffering. By return, I received a cheque for £650 – ‘to round up your figure’, as David wrote.

What a fine gesture from a lovely man. Yours sincerely, Norman J Hazell MBE (Millennium Mayor of Wakefield), Wakefield, West Yorkshire (also a council-house boy)

Ingrams flies a kite

SIR: The kite has suffered very many years of persecution as a result of ignorance and greed, to such an extent that they very nearly died out in this country.

So it is indeed worrying to read (Bird of the Month, June issue) that people still have no understanding of red kites and what they feed on etc. Despite this ignorance, they are happy to condemn them out of hand!

I fully realise that Richard Ingrams’s rants are done for effect but the harm that can result from drivel like this can set attitudes back another generation or more. Yours faithfully, John Davies, Llanddew, Brecon

Dinner at Carnegie’s hall

SIR: Eleanor Doughty’s article about visitors’ books (May issue) reminded me of the time my then-wife and I visited Cumberland Island, a barrier island off the coast of Georgia in the USA.

We were there as the guest of a descendant of Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew, the wealthy 19th-century industrialist. Thomas had once owned all or most of the island.

At dinner’s end, the guests were handed an ancient visitors’ book. We were each instructed to close our eyes and draw as best as we could an armadillo, the mammal that infested the island. (Armadillos are superb swimmers and had made their way long before to the island.)

My attempt – so far as I remember – was pathetic but I was glad to join the hundreds of others who had joined this unique Carnegie tradition. James Smith, Delancey, NY, USA

Latin lovers...

SIR: Mr Buchan (Letters, June issue) may enjoy this Latin version of his favourite Ogden Nash poem. Not by me, but from Ave Ogden!, published by André Deutsch in 1975:

Certe, orna crura bracis;

Membra tua sunt, deliciae.

Veniens divina videris –

Vidistine abeuntem te? Isabel Raphael, London NW1

...and Latin errors

SIR: Your columnist John Lloyd (Quite Interesting Things about … June, June issue) states that ‘45 per cent of Britons didn’t know what the Magna Carta was’. He obviously does, and therefore should also know that the ‘the’ before Magna Carta is redundant.

Latin nouns do not require an article, yet he uses ‘the’ twice. Glass houses and stones spring to mind… Yours pedantically, Annie Mortimer, Ware, Hertfordshire

‘In a way, you can say that marriage is like binge dating’