Dear departed soles

SIR – The co-respondent shoes belonging to Brian Johnston, the cricket commentator, became immortalised when the members of the Riff-raff Club presented him with a pair in cake form (Letters, August 1).

Declaring them too good to eat, his wife Pauline chose to preserve them in the freezer. Over the years they turned to a solid mass akin to Roman concrete, and they made their last public appearance in Westminster Abbey at his memorial service.

The shoes were buried at sea, given a send-off with full honours by the Swanage lifeboat. Kevin J Shead

Chairman, Riff-raff Club Walton-on-thames, Surrey