I very much appreciate Kim Cattrall’s idea that one can be a mother without having given birth (Cattrall: I may not be a mum but I am a parent, 14 September). I always thought that I ought to want children, but I never did. Despite this, I have spent more than 20 years using “mothering” skills as an integral part of my work as a primary and specialist teacher. This alternative view of mothering is refreshing, positive and productive.
Carolyn Sutton
Glastonbury, Somerset
• Your list of the top 50 Rugby World Cup players includes only two props (Sport, 15, 16 September). Unsung heroes or what?
David Coates
Ilkley, West Yorkshire
• Are there plans for the Guardian to release a T-shirt of Steve Bell’s brilliant new character Beigeheart (17 September)? That’ll be Christmas sorted if you can!
Kai Wood
Bath
• Quakers have a special dispensation so they do not have to curtsy or bow before the monarch (Letters, 17 September). Is there a case for a similar secular dispensation for people who have similar scruples?
Evelyn Killick
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
• May I thank the Guardian for publishing a piece on a Yorkshireman/woman that does not include the words “blunt”, “direct” or “stubborn” (Generous, funny, a bit mad and awesomely brave, Sport, 15 September). It’s a first for British newspaper journalism.
Neil Clarkson
Huddersfield
• A colleague sending a pupil with a message for me gave my name; the girl said, “Who?” Her teacher gave my classroom number; the child’s face lit up as she said, “’Im wi’ orange hair.” Alas, the hair is now white (Eyewitness, 14 September).
Geoff Griffiths
High Peak, Derbyshire
