Tim Dowling (Notebook, 22 October) reminded me of a wonderful, now sadly deceased, housemaster at my boarding school in 1980, who I now realise took mischievous pleasure in telling his teenage, rather chilly, charges that he’d need to “bleed the radiator…” (pause for dramatic effect) “…from the nipple”. Badly stifled hilarity ensued. He also had an odd tic of saying everything to us twice, leading to a double portion of hilarity. Thirty-five years on, I think of him with great fondness every time I bleed a radiator.
Leonora Thomson
Kelvedon, Essex
• Excellent piece by Jay Rayner (Bin kids’ menus. Give them food instead, 23 October). We always took our kids to restaurants, expected them to behave themselves but always ensured they had things to do as well. We also always wondered why it was not possible to serve child-sized portions of the food, like we did at home. Can’t be that difficult, can it?
Nicola Moignard
Oakley, Buckinghamshire