Goodbye to gallery audio guides at last

Three cheers for Sir Tony Cragg (‘They look sad’: Tony Cragg scraps audio guides for Castle Howard exhibition, 2 May). For years I have waited patiently at exhibitions behind someone with headphones listening to three minutes of talk about a picture, usually followed by three seconds looking at that picture. Paintings are visual art, to be looked at. Background information and gossip are for earlier or later if needed.
Michael McLoughlin
London

• John Cleese defends Till Death Us Do Part on the grounds that we laughed at Alf Garnett, not with him (John Cleese cut N-word from Fawlty Towers revival because people ‘don’t understand irony’, 2 May). Cleese is wrong. Schoolboys like (I’m sorry to say) myself laughed with him. He said the unsayable on prime-time TV and thereby gave us permission to say the same things in the school playground. Alf was cool because he was naughty and got away with it. I shudder at his memory.
John O’Dwyer
Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire

• In Italy, Melissa Wright says she pays only €1.20 for a coffee, but that’s not the whole story (Letters, 3 May). Having lived in Rome for a decade, drinks are served al banco (standing at the bar) or, for twice the price, al tavolo (sitting down). A cappuccino at Caffè Florian in Venice costs €6 (€12 al tavolo) plus a €6 “orchestra charge”. And don’t forget to add a tip to the €18 bill.
Dr John Doherty
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

• Genuine gender equality in toilet provision would address the vastly longer queues for women in theatres and similar venues (Single-sex toilets to be required in non-residential buildings in England, 6 May)).
Eithne Dodwell
Bradford

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