Sir – I have been a reader of The Oxford Times for about 65 years and have always found it an entertaining and informative part of Oxford’s culture. Inevitably one doesn’t agree with all the comments in both the editorials or individual articles and one just accepts this but occasionally something comes up which does really demand a comment.

I know your correspondents have to be a little controversial and I am sure that editors encourage this, but Christopher Gray’s piece on his visit to the Randolph Hotel (Weekend, May 27) was a bit over the top.

I have never dined at the Randolph — my formative dining days were during the war at the Red Barn British Restaurant opposite the Old Radcliffe Infirmary in Woodstock Road — what would Christopher have made of that?

All this leads up to my contribution:

Gray’s elegy from Chris

Is something I’d rather miss

His best before date’s clearly gone

His ramblings just go on and on

Why does he eat out anyway?

Please stay at home with Rosemarie.

I hope that the above is accepted in the humorous way that it is intended.

Ken Marsland, Kidlington