Gladstone’s legacy

SIR – News that Brent’s Labour council is considering renaming Gladstone Park after Diane Abbott (report, April 17) has reached my Irish father, who lives across the road.

For 40 years, he has been proud to take his evening constitutional in fields named after the prime minister who paved the way for Irish Home Rule.

Might I suggest that, as Brent has the highest proportion of Irish residents of any borough in Britain, the council consults actual residents?

David Gibbons

Eton, Berkshire

SIR – I grew up in Dollis Hill, barely a stone’s throw from Gladstone Park. I attended Gladstone Park Primary School, and before STD our home phone number was on the GLAdstone exchange. To this day, the local phone numbers mostly begin 020 8 452, the 452 being the STD conversion of GLA.

Even back in the 1960s, the community was ethnically diverse, with many West Indian and Asian families. There was also a sizeable Jewish community, though they have now mostly moved on. If we were even aware that our area and its institutions were named after a truly great 19th-century Liberal prime minister, our staunchly Conservative household never saw any reason to object.

Brian Gedalla

London N3