That’s the spirit

Sir: What a wonderful young man Michael Simmons is (‘Sick of it’, 18 July). His stubborn refusal to be held back by disability and illness sets him apart from a generation encouraged to erect mental barriers and create artificial limits. He shows that determination, stoicism and a little bloodymindedness go a long way toward a better life. Our society has improved: we no longer mock disabilities. However, is the kindness culture that discourages growth and aspiration not far crueller in terms of a life well spent?

Ewen Melling

London

Seal their fate

Sir: It would be wonderful if Matt Ridley would add the Atlantic salmon to his list of endangered species whose recovery we should be supporting (‘Wild ambitions’, 18 July). This species, once a cornerstone of our economy and celebrated nationwide in our culture and tourism marketing, is allowed to decline while, putting aside the seemingly irreversible and unsustainable impact of foreign-owned aquaculture, non-indigenous predators such as grey seals and goosanders are protected and multiplying in such devastating quantities that the wild salmon will soon be extinct in the UK as things stand. There are now more seals around our coastline than wild salmon returning to our rivers.

Julian Pullan

Bramley, Hants

Fisherman’s friends

Sir: Following on from Matt Ridley’s excellent article, can I draw your readers’ attention to the Avon Roach Project? Noticing a catastrophic decline in the Hampshire Avon roach population, two men, Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price (sadly no longer with us) decided to do something about it in 2005. By begging and borrowing and fundraising over many years, with help from the Environment Agency, every year they collected fertilised eggs, brought them on in tanks and then stew ponds, finally releasing three-year-old viable fish into the Avon, thus eventually restoring the roach population. It just shows what dedication, sweat and tears on a relatively small scale can do, and such work should be more widely recognised. Similar work is now being done on the river Kennet by the Reading and District Angling Association.

Ian Campbell

Staines, Middlesex

The return of the native

Sir: Matt Ridley is bang on with his points about rewilding in the UK – one must add the Scottish crossbill to the list of endemic birds. There is an opportunity for some reintroduction of nationally absent species, and I would suggest adding Black Veined and Large Copper butterflies – both former natives – to the list too.

Bob Heddle

Ickham, Kent

Half Python

Sir: The Four Yorkshiremen sketch mentioned by Toby Young (No sacred cows, 18 July) was not a Monty Python creation but in fact first aired on At Last The 1948 Show,where the grumbling tykes were played by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Bruce Webber

Solihull

Elgin marvels

Sir: I much enjoyed Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Soul sisters’ (18 July) which reminded me of a wonderful encounter with some nuns in the Cairngorms last month. While attending the annual Scalan mass near Tomintoul, I met four of the Dominican sisters of St Cecilia, based at Greyfriars Convent in Elgin, on their way to help at the mass in the mountains. They were singing songs with beautiful, clear voices and their joy was uplifting, their warmth and love of the Eucharist even more inspiring. At the convent, they help in the community and in schools with religious education and offer retreats and sacramental preparation. They invited us to mass the next day and there we witnessed their interaction with children and parishioners, the beaming smiles proof of a life of great worth. The nuns came here in 2013 from Missouri and clearly love their missionary work. We were very lucky.

John Elder

Menmuir, Angus

Baptism at sea

Sir: Commenting on the difficulty of arranging Christian services on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, Charles Moore remarks: ‘No captain can administer the sacraments’ (Notes, 18 July). This is incorrect with regard to baptism. In the 3rd century, a dispute arose between bishops Cyprian of Carthage and Stephen of Rome as to whether those baptised by heretics needed to be re-baptised. Pope Stephen’s view prevailed, was endorsed by the Council of Nicaea in 325 ad and is held throughout Christendom. As long as water is poured and the Trinitarian formula is used (‘I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’), anyone, believer or non-believer, can administer the sacrament, even the captain of a luxury liner.

Francis Bown

London E3

Glad patients

Sir: Michael Gove says that ‘we can never reduce to net zero the threat from the mentally unbalanced’ (Politics, 18 July). No, not net zero, but we might reduce it by having a few more psychiatric hospitals. I worked in these hospitals as an occupational therapist in the 1960s and found that many patients were glad to be there. They had a roof over their heads, meals, activities, and people to monitor their medication. How many people with mental health conditions have their medication monitored by ‘care in the community’, I wonder?

Pam Hendicott

Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan

Suitable attire

Sir: Rory Sutherland’s suggestion (The Wiki Man, 4 July) that it should be acceptable for men to wear shorts in all social settings is so wrong. In hot sun, fair-skinned people should cover up in light-coloured garments: linen or cotton trousers are perfect. Old men showing off their knobbly knees look ridiculous. More importantly, Mr Sutherland should be campaigning for the return of hat-wearing. It is sad to see so many bald or thinning men exposing their shiny scalps to fierce sun – the perfect way to court skin cancer where you won’t spot it. Panamas are the perfect solution for English gentlemen.

Andrew Nash

Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Notty issue

Sir: Dot Wordsworth struck a nerve when she discussed the perils of double negatives (18 July). I’ve lost count of the number of politicians and journalists who get tied in knots here. Just now Fiona Bruce said, when referring to the new Prime Minister visiting the Palace, ‘One cannot underestimate what that must feel like’, when clearly she meant ‘overestimate’. I cannot overemphasise how annoying that is.

Adrian Fogarty

London W4