It was not just standard nuts and bolts that made the Crystal Palace possible (Solved: the mystery of how Victorians built Crystal Palace in just 190 days, 16 September). The whole building was built from interchangeable parts, many prefabricated, by methods designed not by engineers but by two gardeners, John Claudius Loudon and Joseph Paxton (the architect of the Palace), and perfected in the construction of greenhouses. It is just one example of how the technology of gardening has changed all our lives.
Roderick Floud
Author, An Economic History of the English Garden
• Kurt Schwitters (The Cumbrian barn-stormer: is Kurt Schwitters’ last masterpiece finally about to be restored?, 16 September) was instrumental in saving George Melly from grievous bodily harm in the early 50s. According to Melly, he was confronted by three young thugs late at night and managed to repel them by reciting Schwitters’ poem Ursonate. The fearful nonsense he uttered soon sent them beating a hasty retreat.
Phil Rhoden
Low Habberley, Worcestershire
• I enjoyed Lucy Mangan’s unflattering review of Nightsleeper (15 September). I’m looking forward to a follow-up series about a criminal who manages to hack into a train seat reservation system and create chaos. Oh, hang on…
Tom Sharpe
Stockport, Greater Manchester
• My favourite Lost Consonants collage by Graham Rawle (Obituary, 11 September) was captioned “Andrew Lloyd Webber writes another hit musical”. RIP.
Steven Burkeman
York
• If the prime minister and his wife depend on charity for their clothes (Report, 18 September), when will they start relying on food banks?
Barbara Bellaby
Hollinsclough, Staffordshire
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