In your article about the best scented candles (The filter, 10 December), we were advised to use any candles that give out limited fragrance in small rooms, such as the loo before guests arrive. We were also told to burn candles for a minimum of two hours and not to leave them unattended. Spending two hours in the downstairs loo watching a candle before the arrival of guests seems an odd way to prepare for a party.
Carol Dunnett
Guildford, Surrey
George Osborne, an “austerity expert” (TV tonight, 9 December)? Presumably in the sense that Charles Dickens’s Artful Dodger was an expert in his own field of business.
Austen Lynch
Garstang, Lancashire
“More than 600 artefacts from Bristol Museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection have been stolen”, states your report (Police seeking four men after ‘high-value burglary’ from Bristol Museum, 11 December). Weren’t they all stolen in the first place?
Clive Collins
Martlesham Heath, Suffolk
I can add another three stages of ageing to Pete Bibby’s letter-writing one (Letters, 12 December): the joining the National Trust, RSPB and English Heritage stages.
Jonathan Hauxwell
Crosshills, North Yorkshire
I’m not sure if writing to the Guardian is just one stage of the ageing process. For some of us, this is a lifelong condition.
Matthew Ryder
St Neots, Cambridgeshire
US travel authorisation or a letter published in the Guardian (Letters, 11 December)? I know which I’d prefer.
Mark de Brunner
Burn Bridge, North Yorkshire
