MY wife (who is wheelchair bound) and I attended a concert the other night (November 14), in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. the event was due to begin at 7.30pm. We arrived at the GDC car park opposite the Concert Hall at 6.40.

After purchasing out parking ticket we tried to take the lift down to the street exit. Unfortunately it was not working. We waited for five to 10 minutes and decided to try the other lift only to find that it did not go down to the street exit. A further attempt at the first lift still proved unsuccessful. Eventually I spotted an attendant and explained our problem. He very kindly sorted the lift problem and we made our way across to the Concert Hall.

To gain access to our seats required the use of two lifts. The first lift took us up to the ground floor access. This lift clearly required some WD-40 as it made a lot of noise which drew everybody's attention to us.

Making our way to the second lift we discovered that it too was not working. After several minutes this too was fixed and we managed to make our way to our seats just in time for the show to start.

Going out for the evening in Glasgow is not "user-friendly" for people in wheelchairs.

Tom Lucas, Glasgow G69.

Self-defeating

THERE is a simple reason for scrapping Trident but it is usually ignored in debates on its future. The simple reason is that any nuclear attack on Moscow would result in a direct attack on Central Scotland from Trident itself. Moscow is on the same latitude as Edinburgh. Prevailing meteorological conditions would blow the fall-out westwards, hitting two-thirds of our population. Have we forgotten the effects of Chernobyl on our agriculture already? No lambs from Argyll because of contaminated grass. The fact that Trident cannot be used without US approval through Nato, ergo is not "independent", is a less scary reason but less telling.

The supporters of nuclear "deterrents" justify their position by calling the threat of their use Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD, though our nuclear scientist who worked on the Hiroshima Bomb, Dr Klaus Fuchs, was found guilty of treason for advancing the same theory and helping the Soviets to develop their own "deterrent". MAD has a somewhat different connotation today when looking at the leaders with their metaphorical finger on the button: the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, to name but a few.

Dr Strangelove, here we come.

LDM Mackenzie, Duror, Argyll.

Not so smart

IT comes as no surprise to note in your report today on smart meters rollout problems, your suggestion “that some households may be reluctant” to have one ("Rollout of smart meters aim unrealistic", Herald Business, November 15).

No doubt many people will have heard the horror stories of elderly ladies being pressurised into having one only to find that, after fitting, their central heating no longer works. I can see they are a benefit to the energy suppliers as they are saved the cost of reading meters but fail to see any benefit for the householder. I think most people realise that if they switch on the electric kettle it will use power, likewise with the cooker, convector or central heating. I certainly would not be interested in sitting looking at a little screen telling me that. A well-prepared information campaign by the govern-ment/energy companies on how to save energy within the home would be much more cost effective.

Duncan Miller, Lenzie.

Natty heat source

MALCOLM Allan (Letters, November 15) is probably right in recommending a return of the cravat on aesthetic grounds. However, cravats do not possess one of the often-overlooked properties of the necktie, that of retaining warmth. A well-tied tie keeps the shirt collar close to the neck, providing a comfortable seal that prevents the loss of warmed air from between shirt and skin. If you don't believe this, try comparing the two on a chilly day.

Dr RM Morris, Ellon.