Re your letter about C, MI6’s head, using green ink (19 June), Sir Mansfield Cumming was an admiral before he became head of the Special Intelligence Service (later MI6). A curator at the Royal Navy Museum told me that early in his career, he had written to his director in green ballpoint. His note was returned with a simple comment: “You are not an admiral.”
Peter Elliott
St Albans
• On the subject of rural minibuses (Letters, 22 June), I wouldn’t have been able to visit Charleston House in East Sussex if it hadn’t been for Cuckmere community art shuttle. Driven by volunteers (thank you, Sue and Mark), it links up with two art galleries that reduce entrance fees for those who arrive by public transport. A brilliant idea that I hope gets picked up by others.
Joy McLaughlan
London
