Braine Trains

Sir: May I enlighten Vicki Woods about Braine l'Alleud, to whose twinning with Basingstoke she objects (Diary, 21 August). Far from being obscure, Braine l'Alleud is in fact the......

Quel Poseur

Sir: David Wright in his review of Paul Fer- ris's Caitlin (Books, 16 October) refers to his subject's father as a 'bon viveur'. He should be informed that this usage is pseu-......

Balls-up

Sir: No wonder that at the end of Hobbs's last innings (Sport, 28 August) 'you could hear the cavernous gasp as the balls fell'. The cavernous gasp came from Hobbs. It's bad......

Stop Press

Sir: It is alarming that you believe public schools are like late-mediaeval monaster- ies . . ripe for dissolution' (Leader, 18 September). I am sure I recall that under several......

British Beef

Sir: On 4 January I wrote you a letter sug- gesting that your cookery expert was wrong in using rump steak for steak and kidney Pudding and pointing out that the right choice......

Culture Club

Sir: Thirty-one years ago, I was mildly sur- prised to see my name on the front page of The Spectator, alongside the heavyweights of the scientific and literary Establishment.......

Editorial Crumpet

Sir: Book jackets and, sometimes, press articles will illustrate their authors; for some odd reason we find it interesting, if not helpful, to associate a portrait with its......