Unlearning racism is indeed a lifelong journey (Letters, 13 December). Growing up in Britain in the 1950s and 60s, it was almost impossible not to be racist. It was the air we breathed. It wasn’t until I was 16 and met my husband’s family that I began to unlearn. I am now 70 and a member of a thriving multiracial church, which I love; but I still have to be on my guard.
Lesley Barnes
London
• Our house in Islington, London, was compulsorily purchased for demolition when the Motorway Box was to be built (London’s lost mega-motorway: the eight-lane ring road that would have destroyed much of the city, 13 December). The payment we received was less than we paid for our house, surely rare for Islington. And of course it is still standing.
Rosemary Lindsay
London
• “Barm cake” is the Lancashire name for a bread roll (Letters, 13 December). In Wigan, a butty is made by splitting a barm cake and inserting a pie. If this will not satisfy the appetite, a larger barm cake, known as a “bin lid”, can be obtained at many local bakeries.
Ian Winstanley
Wigan, Greater Manchester
• Re bespectacled sporting moments (Letters, 12 December), Dennis Taylor’s last-frame victory against Steve Davis in the 1985 World Snooker final must be up there with the best. Riveting TV.
Allan Brown
Peterborough
• I am a great fan of Felicity Cloake and use many of her recipes, but I was shocked to see her holding a dog at the same time as handling food (From Lidl’s gold-dusted salmon to Iceland’s toffee crowns: we taste-test the best budget Christmas food, 15 December).
Teresa Quayle
Warrington
• Cop-out15 (Walkouts and tensions as row over finance threatens to derail Cop15 talks, 14 December)?
Prof John Galloway
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
