GCSE courses are not new to Frankland prison (High-risk prisoners sit GCSE English – and many outperform peers on outside, 24 October). I taught GCSE history in a nine-month course for four years from 1987 to 1991. Every man bar one in all four classes passed with a grade C or above. It was one of my most rewarding teaching experiences. In one class was a man who had fought in the Korean war, and in another, a “freedom fighter” from Kashmir. It was all great source material for a 20th-century history course.
Gill Beddow
Bishop Auckland, County Durham
• Thank you for David Squires’ moving tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton (26 October). It brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes it’s the funny guys, the cartoonists, clowns and comedians, who seem best able to invoke moments of profound sadness. Who can forget the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth?
Marilyn Carroll
Manchester
• The proliferation of barber shops (Business is grooming: why the UK’s barbers are bucking the high-street decline, 24 October) must indeed have something to do with vanity and grooming rituals. But I am more persuaded by the reason given by my dear old dad for their ubiquity: “You can’t get your hair cut on the internet.”
Judith Greenwood
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
• Adrian Chiles (Why are young people all growing mullets? I’ve been inspired by a much better hairstyle, 26 October) can rest in the knowledge that the mullet is not universally popular. A barber’s shop in Milnthorpe, Cumbria, uses the style as a threat. A sign in the window states: “Unattended children will be given a mullet.”
Steve Lupton
Prestwich, Greater Manchester
• John Cleese is to be on GB News (Ofcom says GB news is not impartial, but how can that be true? It has every kind of wingnut going, 24 October)? The Ministry of Silly Talks?
Arnold Brown
London
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