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

Anne Robinson’s nuns

SIR: Julia Ross Williamson (Letters, July issue) complains – again – about my harmless anecdote about Farnborough Hill Convent where we were both boarders.

Accounts may vary.

This includes my view that the nuns too often passed on their fault-finding and pickiness and only a few of us escaped with our sense of irony intact. Anne Robinson, Gloucestershire

Nott correct

SIR: Re: Sasha Swire’s father (July issue, page 33): Nott, not Knott. Yours, Roger Scowen, Hampton, Middlesex

I guarded Speer, too

SIR: The article ‘I guarded Albert Speer’ (July issue) is inaccurate in the writer’s claim to be ‘the last person alive who regularly spoke with Speer in prison’. I am 85 years old and served with the Royal Scots in Berlin from 1957 to ’59. We rotated with the other Axis powers and Russia in guarding Speer, von Schirach and Hess. Just thought you might like to know. Alan Booth, Los Angeles, California

Spandau supermarket

SIR: Following the recent article on Rudolf Hess (I Once Guarded, August issue), I am reminded that there was concern that Spandau Prison might become a sort of shrine to the Nazi past. As soon as Hess died, the prison was razed to the ground and construction of a large NAAFI was started.

Given the sharpness of the soldiers’ and airmen’s minds, we were not in the least surprised that the new edifice was immediately dubbed Hessco. David Greenway, Group Captain, Anna Valley, Hampshire

Bernard Cribbins on food

SIR: My late mother would have heartily agreed with Ray Connolly’s views of

‘We reserve this area for people who begin every response with “So…” ’

elaborate cuisine and, like him, would have blamed holidays abroad for the influence of what she called ‘foreign muck’. She loved a song, performed by Bernard Cribbins, that described the perils of a package holiday, and included the words:

We ordered steak and chips.

They brought us something stewed.

It smelled like it was off,

And looked like something rude.

O tempora, o mores! Yours, David Culver, London SE9

Itchy bottoms

SIR: Valerie Crossley’s article (August issue) brought back uncomfortable memories. Worse than our swimming costumes’ accentuating our lumps and bumps, the wool made our bottoms itch for hours after we had taken them off. I still recall my mother’s voice in seaside boarding houses at supper time saying, ‘For goodness’ sake, sit still, William.’ William Wood, Maulds Meaburn, Cumbria

Fish scales

SIR: Theodore Dalrymple ponders as to whether 175 grams of fish is too much for one person. I wouldn’t have a clue, and I suspect many if not most of your readers would feel the same. Just over six ounces of fish, however, I would consider to be about right for one. Regards, Alan Haile, London SW6

The Royals in India

SIR: The magnificent illustration of Queen Victoria’s L&NWR Saloon from Christopher Valkoinen’s book Railways: A History in Drawings brings to mind a visit to the National Railway Museum in New Delhi, which exhibits the saloon cars of the Prince of Wales and the Maharajas of Indore and Mysore.

These are kept locked but, for a very reasonable fee of Rs 50 per family (about 50p), one can have a private view of the three saloons, and very impressive they are, too.

The Prince of Wales’s Saloon, built for his visit to India, 1875-76

Well worth a visit. Yours faithfully, David Shamash, South Fawley, Berkshire

No thanks, Matthew

SIR: Poor Matthew Norman (August issue). Even his one word of Portuguese is incorrect. The word for ‘thank you’ in Portuguese depends on the gender of the person offering thanks. As a male he should say, ‘Obrigado.’ ‘Obrigada’ is used only by females. Most people now use the shortened version ‘Obrigad’. Philip Blackshaw, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire

54-year-old Smarties

SIR: Further to articles in your June and July issues, I have a larger-sized, metal-capped tube of Smarties made into a pencil case by my four-year-old son and labelled ‘to mummy and daddy’. It was a Christmas present in 1967 and now holds my crochet needles. Margaret Stancliffe, York

Voice of speedway

Limited edition: Speed-Track News

SIR: I was interested to see your article on speedway (August issue) because, in the late 1940s, I was permitted to go inside the track each Saturday at Belle Vue Speedway in Manchester to take photos.

At the time, I was about 20 and, with high expectations, produced a magazine called Speed-Track News which I sold at the entrance to the track on race nights. Unfortunately it was not a big seller and I produced only two issues. Hope they are of interest. Regards, Tony Keeley, Knypersley, Staffordshire

Venerable Swede

SIR: Roddy McDougall’s contribution (August issue) about the golden age of speedway unearthed a memory of a jingle I wrote in the 1970s about a world

‘What do you mean you’ve gone off them?’

speedway champion of the time: If your name was Bernt Persson (a Swede) Would you choose to do speedway at speed? And ride a big bike? Is that what you’d like? Then you’d be asking for trouble indeed! Not up to the literary merit of TS Eliot’s Burnt Norton, I’m afraid. John Layton, Wellingborough, Northants

Weeley rocks!

SIR: I was at the Weeley Festival (a big Faces fan). Did ELO also play?

I went with my boyfriend, now a journalist, who wasn’t/isn’t nearly as dishy as your writer John (August issue)!

My memory is of the fire that spread in the cornfields and destroyed many tents, and the appeal for clothes for those left without any possessions. Years later, I discovered that my (by then different) boyfriend had been one of those unlucky individuals. He had to get back to Sunderland without shoes and wearing very ill-fitting clothes.

Wish I’d taken photos to help with the diminishing memory. What a great simple time we had underneath the stars listening to the music. Happy days! Jill Martin, London E9

Memories of the eagles

SIR: What a delight to read your July issue and find reference to two of my most memorable holiday experiences. David Profumo’s mention of Amhuinnsuidhe Castle brought back memories of a wonderful walk recommended by one of the young gillies. Uniquely for me, I was able to watch a pair of sea eagles hunting along the length of a loch running down to the sea.

I was similarly transported by Tom Hodgkinson’s recollections of Cornwall’s Elephant Fayre during the 1980s. We went most years and enjoyed a hugely varied series of cultural events. Ah! Poly Styrene fronting the X-Ray Spex – what a performance! It was sad when this wonderful festival ended, allegedly spoilt by the irresponsible actions of the now-forgotten Peace Convoy. Yours sincerely, Steve Welton, Old Somerby, Lincolnshire

Cheap car insurance

SIR: I have just seen Alan Judd’s column in your June issue and believe I may be of assistance to his Tonbridge reader, in obtaining substantially more advantageous motor insurance. Like him, I am a member of the IAM – 55 years – and, at the age of 78, have just secured an excellent renewal deal for my two cars with Aviva.

I have a brand-new Mazda CX-30 AWD, petrol hybrid, and a little-used Mercedes SLK 280, with only 31,000 miles on the clock since I collected it from the factory in Bremen, in 2006.

Living in north Wiltshire, for the two cars I now pay only £609, fully comprehensive with named drivers and multi-years protected NCD; mileage limited to 8,000 pa for the Mazda and 2,000 for the Merc, which suits me admirably. William Harmer, Hullavington, Wiltshire

Lady Hartwell memories?

SIR: I am researching for a memoir of my mother, Pamela Berry (Hartwell) (1914-82), and would be most grateful to hear from any Oldie readers who have in their possession letters from her that they would be prepared to share with me. Harriet Cullen, London SW10 harrietcullenuk@yahoo.com