Lady Weir

Diana Reid writes: Hilary Weir’s love of horses (obituary, Dec 3) stemmed from age 6 when she was given a stubborn “rescue pony” and her brother a donkey, on which they rode round the surrounding Kentish woods. Showing ability, she graduated to an Arab crossbred which she broke in herself and rode successfully to the Pony Club Finals at Rutland. In her years at the British Embassy in Cairo, she would arrive at the riding stables at 6am to ride an Arab stallion on the desert behind the Pyramids.

Peter Lehmann

Richard Bunker writes: Your excellent obituary (Nov 27) described the very active and multifaceted life of Peter Lehmann. He was also a very committed and highly respected governor of CiLT, the National Centre for Languages, keen that young people should learn foreign languages from an early age as a key part of their education, to communicate effectively with their peers in other countries and to use languages in their careers. In this he was a superb role model, using his knowledge of languages to develop business contacts with Germany, Trinidad, Argentina and elsewhere, and achieving, as you rightly point out, the enormous distinction for an Englishman of being on the board of Gaz de France.

Bob Wade

Pat Regan writes: Mornings will never be the same in Gambardella’s or Carlo’s cafés at Blackheath, where Bob (obituary, Dec 2) was a regular. Pleasant memories of the breakfast club on Saturdays when Bob and others would try to solve the Times crosswords, Su Doku, quiz and chess. We didn’t always finish the crosswords, but Bob always made the winning move in chess.