Letters about washing versus laundry (11 February) reminded me that when I researched the public washhouses of Manchester, the public called them “washhouses”, but the men who worked there on the machinery called them “laundries”. The original council committee of the 1870s was the Wash House Committee, but by the mid-20th century this had changed to Laundries. I have a washhouse at my home, which a passing architect called a laundry, but the builder and I called it a washhouse. It must be a class thing.
Frances Worsley
Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire
• Sorry to disappoint you, Michael Robinson, but it’s still washing baskets here – two, in fact. When we got married 54 years ago and I started the washing, I lost a few of my husband’s socks. In a fit of pique he decided that he could do better and since 1971 I have done none of his washing. He does none of mine. It suits us perfectly.
Janet Mansfield
Aspatria, Cumbria
• May I suggest that the laundry versus washing divide is largely geographical. North of the Wash the laundry is the place where you take the washing.
Christopher Osborne
Nottingham
• The article on voice coaching for politicians (‘Embrace the pause’: vocal coaches on the tips they give politicians, 7 February) puts one in mind of the saying: “Sincerity, if you can fake that you’ve got it made.”
Bill Britnell
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
• While joy cometh in the morning (Letters, 10 February), so doth the bill in the post.
Tom Stubbs
Surbiton, London
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