RECEIVING the Mackintosh print with my Herald this morning (June 7) reminded me of an experience I had in Port Vendres a few years ago.

My wife and I were in Port Vendres and being Charles Rennie Mackintosh admirers decided to try to trace where he had lived when he was there in his later years.

At the time there was a series about him on the TV featuring Tom Conti.

We looked about the quaint port but could find no plaques or signs of where he had been.

Finally I called into the town hall to see if anyone could help me. A lady came forward to the counter which was in a very large open office. I asked her if they had any info on Mackintosh. She said that she had never heard of him and loudly asked her colleagues if they knew of him. No was the response.

I then tried a different tack and mentioned the TV programme and the name of Tom Conti to which every woman cried "oui"!

I was then provided with the info I was looking for about "the Scottish painter".

As a postscript, there is now a gallery and a society dedicated to CRM in Port Vendres and a seaside walkway named after him.

W MacIntyre,

32 Dunlin, East Kilbride.

RUSSELL Leadbetter's article ("1965: Let there be light: Cathedral's roof finally cleaned", The Herald, May 31) reminded me of a story I heard concerning Sir Christopher Wren. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, the city fathers asked Sir Christopher Wren to design an impressive public building, which was to have a large central space where the public could gather to perambulate and discuss important matters. In due course, Wren produced the plans for a very imposing building, the ceiling of which was supported on four large columns. The city fathers were indeed impressed, but opined that four columns were insufficient to support the roof, and told Wren to add a fifth column. Wren objected strongly, saying that a fifth column would destroy the symmetry of the building, and pointed out that he had done the necessary calculations, and four columns were sufficient. Nevertheless the demands of the city fathers prevailed and the building was built with a fifth column.

In the 1960s Wren's building had become coated with grime, and it was decided to engage a company to clean it. When the cleaners came to clean the top of the fifth column they discovered that it stopped short of the ceiling by two inches. For 300 years its only function had been to prove that Sir Christopher right – his beautiful building would indeed stand on just four columns.

Doug Clark,

6 Muir Wood Grove, Currie, Midlothian.