Re the signpost snatcher (‘Phantom post snatcher’ on Snowdonia Slate Trail wrongfoots ramblers, 22 August), I once saw, in the house of a keen walker, a lampstand made from a wooden waymarker. So there could be a market for such things.
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife
• The recipe Phil Gates retrieved to produce ink from inkcap mushrooms (Country diary, 16 August) is a great example of the value of fungi. And it’s not just ink: research is under way to produce textiles, paper, insulation and other materials from mushroom species. Perhaps a mycological version of the Guardian isn’t far off.
Keith Thomas
University of Sunderland
• When the CPS deputy chief inspector says “I think the CPS are now starting to understand what empathy looks like and how they can express that in words” (Report, 23 August), it seems to me suspiciously like a description of a learning algorithm for an AI programme.
William Moloney
Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire
• Chris Mullin is critical of those standing for parliament at a young age (Age apparently gives you wisdom, so why doesn’t Joe Biden know when to quit?, 22 August). Clearly, he was not of that view when he stood as a candidate in Devon North in 1970, when he was 22.
David Winnick
London
• The Black Country Paranormal group is guarding the site of the Crooked House pub (Report, 22 August). Don’t they realise that it doesn’t have a licence to serve spirits any more?
Mick McKeown
Windermere, Cumbria
• This article was amended on 24 August 2023 to correct the spelling of Chris Mullin’s name in the text and subheading.
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