17 JANUARY 1969, Page 27

QE2s for Christmas

Sir: I sympathise with Nigel Lawson ('Spec- tator's notebook,' 3 January) over his experi- ence with 'space hoppers.' My children, like his, were given two of those toys for Christmas. In one sense we were more fortunate: ours arrived complete with valves. But when both had been blown up to the size recommended for children, one developed a leak and shrank to a limp and oblong shape on the first occa- sion on which it was used.