Answering the call from English Heritage, I nominated my grandmother, Gwen Mullins, for a blue plaque in London (Letters 31 May). She was a self-taught weaver whose rugs are in the V&A. Before the Crafts Council existed, she set up a foundation to support other craftsmen and women and in 1974 received an OBE. She managed all this while being a loyal support for her husband, an outspoken magistrate. Sadly, these achievements were not enough for English Heritage to think her worthy of a plaque.
Emma Dally
London
• It was the reluctance of English Heritage to install plaques outside London that led the Woolton Society in south Liverpool to instigate our own programme of heritage plaques in 2019.
One commemorates the society’s founder, Janet Gnosspelius (1926-2010) – architect, conservationist and founder of several civic societies. The next will be on the building that housed a Benedictine convent established in Woolton in 1795; 18 French nuns founded the first convent in what was then Lancashire. The society is seeking more notable women to add to our programme.
Jean Davies
Chair, Woolton Society
• In what seems an arcane selection process, English Heritage rejected a blue plaque for Brigid Brophy, the author and critic who championed the successful Public Lending Right for authors. Is there something about intellectual female writers that puts off English Heritage?
Kate Levey
Louth, Lincolnshire
• Erika Rushton’s letter makes an important point about the support provided to those celebrated for individual achievements. When I hear an interview with someone feted for their public work, I always wish the interviewer had asked who does their shopping, cooking and laundry. This isn’t just with a view to cutting the interviewees down to size: it would be genuinely interesting to understand the detail of these people’s daily lives, and the extent to which they are supported by others.
Ian Dawson
Heywood, Lancashire
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