Last women standing

SIR – The hardiness of the female sex (“Men no match for women if going gets tough”, report, January 9) is nowhere more apparent than in the village of Eyam in Derbyshire. Plaques on the cottages there list the names of those who died of the plague in 1665 and 1666, noting frequently that the sole survivor was the mother.

The village selflessly quarantined itself for over a year, during which almost 300 villagers died. This successfully stopped the spread of the plague to neighbouring villages. Lois Mcgill

Buxton, Derbyshire