Not such sloe going if you don’t pierce

I see Susie White still pierces her sloes (Country diary, 7 November). A few years ago, I made two batches of sloe gin from the same collection of sloes, one pierced and one not. In blind tastings at Christmas, no one, not even me, could taste the difference. I have not wasted time piercing them ever since.
John Dobson
Hexham

• Seen on T-shirt worn by a toddler (Letters, 12 November) in South Africa: “Reincarnated by popular demand.”
Sue Merry
Kingston upon Thames, Surrey

• Never mind Woolworths in New Zealand (Letters, 13 November). I saw a C&A, or Coats and ’Ats as we used to call it, in Krakow last month.
John Petrie
Leeds