When our children were young, to relieve the tedium of driving on holidays in France, we gave titles to different designs of pylons – such as “perky cat” and “droopy dog” (Letters, 30 July). Perhaps if we had more variety in pylon design in the UK and gave them quirky names, people might learn to love them as well as appreciate their necessity.
David Felton
Wistaston, Cheshire
A while ago a survey asked people where they had seen a wind turbine on land, and everyone knew; it then asked where the nearest pylon to their house was, and almost no one knew. The latter was assimilated into the landscape, while the turbines were new and still noticed.
Emeritus Professor Mike Elliott
Leven, East Yorkshire
Mina Smallman writes beautifully about her grief. There is no blueprint – each person must deal with it in the way that makes sense to them – but her way, more importantly, contains seeds of hope to be able to live on in the face of trauma.
Helen Murray Cooke
Carcassonne, France
The government should institute inquiries by local university psychology departments to find out why we had such riots this summer (Report, 2 August). We all have ideas on the subject, but they are just ideas.
Dr. Richard Turner
Beverley, East Yorkshire
An unexpected delight when reading the birthdays column: the phrase “former Conservative MP”.
Trevor Turpin
Avoncliff, Wiltshire
