Brian Simmons is rightly proud of his loyalty to the Manchester Guardian, and later the Guardian (Letters, 3 May) for over 70 years, but my mother, born and bred in industrial Lancashire, was first introduced to the paper as a teenager and died at the age of 101, with a fully read copy of the Guardian at her bedside. I hope to follow in her footsteps.
Martin Wells
East Coker, Somerset
• Rich Pelley recalls calling for his dog Flaps across the park and wondering if others may have thought it strange (The pet I’ll never forget: Flaps the dog gave me a nasty bite – but I kept quiet to save his life, 8 May). We adopted a stray when I was a child, and my younger brother named him Woof. I didn’t have to wonder what other people thought as this red-faced, exasperated teenager shouted his name in vain as the bloody dog shot off across the park.
Pete Lavender
Woodthorpe, Nottingham
• My memory of the 1979 general election (Letters, 7 May) was a van with a poster pasted on the back door: “Vote for Guy Fawkes. The only man to enter parliament with honest intent”.
Mike Eggenton
Firbeck, South Yorkshire
• I’d like to say thanks to the Met Police for giving the republican cause such a huge boost on Saturday (Anti-coronation protest leader hits out at police over arrests, 7 May).
Peter Evans
Walton on Thames, Surrey
• It has taken this ridiculous coronation circus to cure me of a lifelong love of Handel’s Zadok the Priest.
Jane Ghosh
Bristol
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
