20 OCTOBER 1967, Page 28

Sir: Lord Attlee's conversation may at times have been laconic,

but there is nothing unpredictable about the example Mr Hollis quotes (13 October). Prizegivings at South Shields, then as now, were held in the early afternoon and the best way to be sure of arriving in time from London was to take the sleeper from King's Cross. To this day if one wants a good night's sleep, one gets on to the train between 11.15 and midnight. May I add that Lord Attlee's devotion to Hailey- bury was matched by an equal regard for Univer- sity College, Oxford, a fact not without its conse- quences today. In his time at least, the influence of Balliol on Whitehall was kept within reasonable bounds.

John Wells will be back next week