Like many Scots of a certain vintage, I can recall exactly where I was and what I was doing when Celtic won the European Cup on 25 May 1967 (Lisbon Lions allowed Scotland to walk tall again, Sport, 24 May). Too impecunious to go to Lisbon, I was glued to my parents’ small black and white TV in Glasgow. In common with a number of my friends, I had decided to abstain from alcohol for the duration of the match in order not to impair my viewing faculties. So it is that I vividly remember the cup of tea I was drinking hitting the ceiling when Celtic scored the winning goal and became the immortal Lisbon Lions.
Mike Pender
Cardiff
• Perhaps we should have foreseen the collapse of the Hillary Step on Everest (Opinion, 24 May). I recall vividly the Gendarme on the Cuillin ridge of Skye and the vital chock stone in the Flake Crack on Scafell’s Central Buttress route, for years England’s most classic hard rock climb. Sadly both features now form part of the screes below. Miraculously, Nape’s Needle, the most iconic of them all, still stands proud on the crags of Great Gable. First climbed in 1886, it has taken a pounding ever since.
Richard Gilbert
York
• Sadly I shall never have the chance to witness Alexander Zverev’s tennis in person, but Kevin Mitchell’s report from the Italian Open (Sport, 22 May) was a perfect consolation – vivid, emotional, three-dimensional. Thank you.
Maurice George
Ormskirk, West Lancashire
• Why not the Order of British Endeavour or Excellence (Outdated and embarrassing? New calls for sun to set on empire medals after 100 years, 22 May)?
Jeremy Beecham
Labour, House of Lords
• When my grandchildren were young I fed them boiled eggs with soldiers spread with yeast extract. They called me Granny Marmite (Letters, 24 May). They are now in their teens and still do!
Gill Empson
Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire
• Grandad Caterpillar is hoping none of his anatomy turns into a chrysalis. Especially his splendid moustache.
Hilary Grime
Oxford
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