17 APRIL 1971, Page 22

COMPETITION

No. 646: Sweet Ambridge

Set by Timothy Snow: In The Deserted Village Goldsmith immortalised the village preacher and the village schoolmaster. Competitors are asked to use similar rhymed couplets to describe in not more than sixteen lines of verse any present-day village character, e.g. the garage man, the hair- dresser, the Olde Gift Shoppe proprietor. Entries, marked 'Competition No. 646,' by 30 April.