Matt Powell suggests the Sycamore Gap vandals be punished by an order to plant 2,000 trees each, describing this as “loathsome, back-breaking work” (Letters, 14 May). It’s a creative idea but, as a former forestry worker with years of tree-planting experience and a fine, unbroken back, I take issue with his description. It’s healthy work, far more satisfying than many jobs, and planting 2,000 trees would only be about 10 hours’ work at a reasonable pace.
Nic Pease
Inchigeela, County Cork, Ireland
• Jane Lowe wonders if she and her husband were “sten party” trendsetters in 1979 (Letters, 18 May). My wife-to-be and I held a similar event in a riverside pub on the night before our wedding in 1965. Great memories.
Richard Carden
Denton, Norfolk
