Every year when the clocks moved forward, my father used to tell my brothers and I that we owed this to a relative, William Willett, who came up with the idea of “daylight saving” (Looking forward to an extra hour in bed on Sunday? Time to thank a farsighted builder from Kent, 25 October). Willett’s mother, Maria (née Box), was an older sister of my paternal great-grandmother, the splendidly named Affability – both being among the many children of a Southwark waterman. There is a memorial to Willett in Petts Wood, London, with a sundial permanently set to British summer time.
Julian Harber
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
• Paul Highfield (Letters, 26 October) should be aware that, like unhappy families, every seasonal affective disorder sufferer is sad in their own way. This one hates dark mornings with a vengeance – so much so that I have logged the sunrise/sunset times around the solstices and equinoxes for many years.
The worst of the dark evenings last about six weeks – sunset becomes earlier from about 15 December. The darkest morning does not arrive until 5 or 6 January, and the real difference is not apparent until February. If we were to keep British summer time year-round, the sun would rise at 9.30am-ish for most of January here in the far south-west.
Jennifer Gale
Littleham, Devon
• 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.
