The second shows them similarly triumphant but then rolling their vehicle into a deep gorge and thus oblivion. QUENTIN Curtis's assertion ("How I learnt to love the bomb", 1 January) that "there is no closing conflagration" in The Wages of Fear is open to challenge. I am a manic depressive and have been right through the drugs spectrum and none seemed to work the orac le; however, an interesting point is when I am in a manic depression I find it easy to write serious verse, some quite beautiful - here is an example: Last night in the twilight gloom A butterfly flew in my room Oh what beauty Oh what grace Who needs visitors from outer space Spike Milligan London W2. I WAS very interested in Hester Lacey's report ("A poem a day keeps dejection at bay '', 1 January) on poetry taking the place of Valium.

Yet the rebuilt Meccano ("It's about bikes, racing cars and all terrain vehicles") would seem to be signalling as powerfully as before to girls, "Not your thing" I hope I'm wrong. Nora Crook Cambridge. Multi-coloured woollen bookmarks were its sole product, but we were pleased with our little factory. I proved to be more of a paintbox type, but my nine-year-old sister took to the Number 3 set, and made some wonderful things, including a working loom. My mother (b 1910), an intensely practical woman, still regrets never owning a Meccano set, such as her boy cousins were given for Christmas, and was determined that her daughters would not be similarly deprived. Yet s urely there is a marketing opportunity: though the most persistent image of Meccano may be of a pipe-smoking father, two boys in short trousers and a crane, there have always been girls whose fingers itch for angle brackets and trunnions. As for the British, I can only conclude that we are far too supine.Surely the time has come for local authority environmental health officers to come to the rescue of the battered diner.John Norman London W3.

Reading through David Bowen's interesting article ("Nuts and bolts of a model revival", 18 December), I don't find a recognition that any of the "meticulous and patient" children who now apparently constitute Meccano's niche might be female. Captive because it seems to be so widespread and very few restaurants, if any, seem willing to allow us a peaceful environment. When I recently complained to the managing director of Dunkin Donuts about the level of noise in his Piccadilly coffee shop, he implied that I was being absurd: his customers demanded background music, his business had grown 30 per cent since the introduction of a sound system and he was not going to be deterred by a customer complaint. I cannot recall encountering this barbaric practice on the Continent or in the US. Europeans are too civilised and Americans would not tolerate such anti-social behaviour. Perhaps he will now write about the pernicious and persistent habit of restauranteurs who inflict damagingly high levels of muzak on their captivecustomers. PETER Victor's article ("Neighbourhood noise: 17 people have died from it", 18 December) is to be welcomed. The origins of Stakhanovism are very close to home and lie with the redoutable Utilitarian Thomas Gradgrind. Keith Flett Tottenham, London N17.