LETTERS : Cookery test

From Ms Gillian Bevan Sir: The death of Peter Cook has reminded us of a much-loved and often-told true family story.

My husband, having recently arrived in London from university in Warwick, where he had spent the previous three years, found himself one day in the ironmonger's shop in Hampstead. The sight of celebrities still being a new experience for him, he found himself smiling with pleasure at the sight of Peter entering the shop, which Peter took as a sign that my husband worked there. "Secateurs?" inquired Peter, quite naturally. To which my husband, thinking it must be some kind of literary test, replied rathe r hesitatingly, "Non sequiturs?"

It was only when Peter walked the length of the shop, giggling to himself, that my husband realised his mistake, and blushed with a mixture of embarrassment and pride at the classic Pete & Dud conversation he had just had with one of his heroes.

Yours faithfully, Gillian Bevan London, NW2