It is true that we no longer lend out the Ben Nicholsons and Alfred Wallises that Harland Walshaw was lucky enough to choose from as a student (Letters, 24 January), but we do still invite students in to Kettle’s Yard to choose a work of art, which for a small deposit and a modest fee they can hang on their walls for the year. And there are some beautiful works to choose from. We do love to hear the stories from those who enjoyed Jim Ede’s generosity when he was still living here.
Andrew Nairne
Director, Kettle’s Yard
• As I hunted through Sainsbury’s recently for unpackaged vegetables (MPs urge supermarkets to banish plastic waste, 20 January), my route to the nice, clean carrots and leeks – two of the very few naked veggies on display – was blocked by shoppers carefully decanting them into plastic bags.
Vicky Woodcraft
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
• John Crace’s report on the trend to display books with their spines facing inwards (Digested week, 20 January) calls to mind Lorna Sage’s grandfather, the vicar of Hanmer, whose books all “had the authors’ names and titles on their spines blacked out as a precaution against would-be borrowers”. It also meant visiting parishioners wouldn’t know what the old blighter might be reading.
Christopher Nankivell
Birmingham
• Excellent idea from Michael Heaton (Letters, 23 January) to bring the Bayeux tapestry to Stamford Bridge. At 70 metres, it would stretch almost the length of the pitch.
Ria Hopkinson
London
• I’m afraid Alan Woodley has dropped a clanger (Letters, 25 January). It’s a “ring” of bells, not a peal of bells. A peal is a piece of ringing at least 5,000 changes in length.
Dr Michael Shaw
Hove, East Sussex
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