The late Peter Preston’s gem of a view about clearing his stepfather’s house (Little boxes of past lives, 12 December 2005) puts into context your recent letters on this topic, expressed in an elegiac tenor that approaches the words of the incomparable, and also sadly late, Ian Jack. I give copies of the article to friends, but it doesn’t seem to spur them into getting rid of their own hoarded items.
Tom Epton
Topsham, Devon
• I found a cache of 35mm film canisters – two black bins full of them – during a house clearance (Letters, 16 December). Now looking for good homes.
Ros Westwood
Buxton, Derbyshire
• The Feyenoord footballer Joop van Daele was bespectacled (Letters, 15 December). When he scored against Estudiantes in the Intercontinental Cup in 1970, there was a fracas and his glasses were torn from his face and stamped on by opposing players. There was a song about it and the broken specs are in the Feyenoord museum.
Peter Miles
Macclesfield, Cheshire
• I was impressed by Phil Wang’s insouciance about his culinary skills (The Q&A, 17 December), but he should be a bit circumspect with his frozen peas. You can’t throw them straight into “whatever you are cooking”. Not if it’s a chocolate cake – unless you have weird taste.
Fiona Collins
Carrog, Sir Ddinbych
• The pleasure I get from getting two or three answers correct every week in the Pet Corner quiz in the G2 section of your print edition might be juvenile, but it serves an 82-year-old well. Being right on so many occasions boosts my morale.
Jack Nixon
Ellon, Aberdeenshire
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