The Pier Art Centre in Stromness (Letters, 4 October) also has some wonderful pieces by my aunt, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, who painted in Orkney and was a member of the St Ives group. My uncle, David Lewis, then married to Willie, was secretary to Barbara Hepworth. He became an architect, but – now 95 – he is producing enchanting sculptures of animals and birds in Pittsburgh almost daily.
Rob Lewis
Besiktas, Istanbul
• I would say the CIA savagery depicted in Larry Siems’ article (Horror and futility of CIA’s torture rooms revealed in files, 10 October) more than qualifies the US to join jihadis and Vladimir Putin in Paul Mason’s list of the main threats to Britain (G2, 10 October), now that Trump is in charge.
Marion Hutt
Seaford, East Sussex
• My mother taught a class of 50 seven-year-old boys in a south London primary school before the second world war. In early autumn, each boy was sewn into his vest, under which had been spread a liberal amount of goose grease. By March, this insulation began to steam on a warm afternoon. She could never adequately describe the resulting smell (Letters, 12 October).
Janet Mansfield
Aspatria, Cumbria
• It is all very well telling stories of folk talking while on the privy (Letters, 11 October). But which paper and what was he using it for? Reading or wiping?
Christine Hawkes
Cambridge
• I’m all for free speech but it would be easier to get the significance of the case quoted in Tim Dowling’s column (11 October) if I understood what the phrase “Bong hits 4 Jesus” actually means.
Angela Barton
Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire
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