Sir – On February 19 you published a photograph of the Queen inspecting the archaeological excavations in St Ebbes (actually in Church Street, not Queen's Street as indicated in your caption) in 1968.

I took a photograph at almost exactly the same time from a more favourable angle (it may well be your photographer in the background).

It seems extraordinary now to recollect that in those far-off days, before even the IRA terror campaigns, it was possible for me to watch the event from an upper window across the street without anyone questioning either my presence, my identity or my motives.

Philip Kenrick, Former volunteer assistant on the excavations, Abingdon