Officials at Westminster Abbey have a long history of inappropriately asking visitors to remove clothing (‘Demonic’ Wind in the Willows jumper banned from Westminster Abbey, 14 November). Back in 1977, a verger was most put out to learn that I, a child who was well wrapped up against the cold, was a girl who had been taught to wear a hat in church, so no, I would not be removing my woolly hat as he demanded.
Narmada de Silva
Chichester

I really enjoyed reading your article on unusual names (‘You get more attention than you would choose’: how an unusual name can shape your life – for better or worse, 13 November). When I lived in Newcastle as a child, my doctor was Dr Dagger and my dentist was called Mr Mallet. Thank you for reminding me.
Judi Lambeth
Welwyn, Hertfordshire

I would like to put on record that I know nothing about Nobel prizes or artificial intelligence.
Geoffrey E Hinton
Gosport, Hampshire

Regarding learning life skills at school (Letters, 10 November), I attended a girls’ grammar school in the late 1950s. When we asked the gym teacher what purpose in life was served by doing pull-ups on the wooden parallel bars, she told us that it would strengthen our wrists and enable us to easily take the tops of pickle and jam jars.
Jan Jeffries
Brewood, Staffordshire

Guardian letter writers writing about Guardian letters (14 November). How very Guardian. I sense a wall chart moment – one for smug, the other for cool.
Alex Dickie
Edinburgh