MARSHMALLOW MAGIC

I WAS delighted to see mallenders mentioned in your feature on old diseases in the superb nostalgia issue (9 July).

When James Herriot is invited to join Siegfried Farnon’s veterinary practice in Darrowby, according to his inimitable books the pair celebrate at a pub. After many draughts of ale, an “elderly little man” beckons Herriot over to give him his patent, top-secret cure for “mallenders and sallenders in ’osses” – marshmallow ointment.

With your suggestion of “emollient creams”, it seems he was not far off!

Octavia Pollock Midhurst, W Sussex

Riding in bygone days “set us up for life”, says Leonie Marshall – though of course these days H&H recommends always wearing a protective hat