NOBODY, but nobody does Golden Age nostalgia quite like Geoff Pollitt. (Bolton Evening News, January 24).

If we are to believe him, (but, of course, I don't!) there was once a time when everybody was sensible, when kids respected grownups, when nobody slept with anybody who wasn't their lawful spouse, when children and carpets were beaten regularly,when homosexuals were put in jail where they belong, and when life was so much better all round... until a bunch of trendy do-gooders like me came along and destroyed this earthly paradise.

It would be hopelessly dishonest to pretend that some things have not got worse -- of course they have. But I remember vividly an incident that happened to me when I was working for British Rail in Derby in the early 1960s.

It was a hot summer day, and we were not in an office which dealt with any members of the public. But my section head almost had an apoplectic fit on the spot when he found out that I had dared to loosen my tie (not even removed, only loosened). He was almost inarticulate with rage! In the office I work in now, we all wear open-necked shirts, or roll-necks, and only the most old-fashioned of my colleagues now wears a tie at all.

Does Geoff Pollitt really think this is a threat to peace and social stability ?

Peter Johnston,

Kendal Road,

Bolton