Your Letters
I realy enjoyed the Tudor death piece, but had to raise an eyebrow when I saw the archery bit. People weren't killed as they went to 'collect the fired arrows' as your writer said.
The writer should have said 'died collecting the loosed arrows' as you loose, not fire arrows.
I am a keen archer and always get annoyed at this phrasing (Lord of the Rings being the worst perp).
The term 'firing' only came about as gunpowder and guns replaced bows and arrows, and stems from the gunpowder igniting. Before guns there was no firing, the term was loosing (as you're loosing the string).
Craig Melson, London, UK
I'm a young(ish) man who would love to give blood but because I'm gay and have a sex life, I'm banned as I'm supposedly a health risk. There are thousands of healthy gay men in the country who would love to give blood, but are unable because of this rule. Why am I banned but someone who sleeps around and doesn't take precautions deemed suitable? That's an angle missing from your story.
Darren, London
I have a suggestion for those bothered by the sodcasters which I have found to be successful in a similar situation. My neighbours have teenage boys and they seem to love, as soon as the sun shines, to sunbathe on their patio, with very loud, rap style music blasting through the neighbourhood. Polite requests were ignored. So I decided to give them a taste...!
I set our pretty powerful music system up next to the open window close to their patio, put Radio 3 on full blast and went out for the day. Never had a problem since! Maybe some brave souls should start singing opera, hymns or songs from the shows on the bus/tube to reclaim their territory?!
Carrie, Dumfries Scotland