Letter: Design for sneering

Sir: Presumably, Robin Butterell is referring to the pseudo half- timbered cottage, constructed by sticking some black-painted softwood on to an inner skin of breeze blocks.

It is necessary to distinguish between these, new timber-framed houses built according to traditional methods, and genuinely old timber-framed buildings. The best way to preserve the latter is for people to continue living in them.

All who do, or aspire to live in and preserve any old building, would be well advised to join the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. They will provide a delightful education in how to treat the building sensitively and repair it with the proper materials.

C G NOEL

Ledbury, Herefordshire