Vivienne Westwood, like me, although a few years younger, was brought up in the austere 1940s and 50s when hot water was a precious commodity and people bathed once a week. So far from becoming “too posh to wash” (G2, 3 October), she has carried on much the same as many of us of the same vintage.

Marie Paterson

Nuneaton, Warwickshire

• No need to visit Cornwall to see a superb collection of art from St Ives (Letters, 2 October). Head to Orkney instead. While visiting friends, we discovered the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness has a collection to rival the Tate, including Alfred Wallis, Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost, Naum Gabo, Peter Lanyon and Ben Nicholson, alongside Orkney greats such as the sublime Sylvia Wishart. Admission was free.

Robert Wilson

Horsham, West Sussex

• Just to show John Wills (Letters, 2 October) that I really mean it: I have signed and was about to post a cheque for £2,000 to HMRC, when I found they did not offer an address that looked right, and are not at present answering calls about payments. I’ll send it when they do. What is needed is for more people, including journalists and above all, Labour politicians, to press for raising taxes on the comfortably off.

Susan Reynolds

London

• Never mind that the Midlands missed out in the Sunday lunches supplement (Letters, 3 October). I was excited to see that the list would contain somewhere in “London’s Highbury”, not least because I was going to the Arsenal match. However, a search of the article drew a blank for Highbury. I had to content myself with a pie from Piebury Corner. And jolly good it was too.

Howard Ewing

London

• Frank Danes (Letters, 3 October) bemoans the lack of tickets for Chichester’s King Lear due to a stampede for Ian McKellen’s take on the role. Not half as much as this keen theatre-goer who lives opposite the theatre: tickets sold out before I could cross the road. Reviews by Michael Billington are class acts, evocative reads for the many who may not be able to even think of travelling to London, Leeds or Liverpool. Take heart, however, Frank. There are always returns.

Carol Godsmark

Chichester, West Sussex

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters