France election results | Polluted rivers | Buckwheat for the bees | Where’s summer? | Winning at sport
Regarding the surprise election results in France (Report, 7 July), it was always said that in the first electoral round the French voted with their hearts and in the second with their heads. Clearly they have not changed.
John Cundill
London
• Re Andrea Meanwell’s Country Diary (6 July), I was brought up not far from Tebay, in the Eden Valley. I have fond memories of my dad and other farmers going swimming in the River Eden after a hard day’s work in the hayfields. They looked forward to cooling down and relaxing. We children spent happy times playing in the river too. As Andrea says, we wouldn’t do it now. What a tragedy that our rivers are now so polluted we can no longer enjoy those simple pleasures.
Maggie Rylance
Winchester