Sir, Like Christopher Gray, I too remember The Boot pub in Stonesfield (Weekend, March 3). Of course, there was always The Black Head, and The White Horse came and went. We read often of the changing face of the English village; that many are no more than satellites to the city, part of the commuter belt, or little more than a holiday retreat. The evidence for this is perhaps never more apparent than in the pub.

Travel abroad and you soon realise how unique to this country it is. But The White Horse isn't a pub. It's a hybrid, a gastro-something or other. It's of the city. The only character these pubs have is in the building, everything else is flouncy interior design. But The White Horse will do fine. It's soon to be a part of the celebrity culture.

Doubtless, customers will travel just to see it because it was on television, and give little thought to the food that is all fancy and decorated and expensive; or that the staple of the pub, the beer, in this case Hook Norton ale, is served as if it has passed through a chiller. Remember when a pub would be travelled to for its cellar? But everyone drinks lager now, anyway.

Paul Thornton, Mousehole, Cornwall