Just Stop Oil’s tactics will only alienate people

Just Stop Oil in persisting to “soup” famous paintings like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers will just lead to airport-type security at galleries, international venues becoming reluctant to loan paintings to the UK, and more prosecutions.

They should remember Van Gogh’s famous quote, “Art is to console those who are broken by life”, and not alienate many people who appreciate his work and otherwise agree with their cause.

Kartar Uppal

West Midlands

What a shame it was to hear of the passing of snooker commentator Clive Everton on Friday.

The tribute paid to him at the British Open snooker championship, whose trophy is named after him, was nothing short of sensational.

Clive and I were friends for many wonderful years, especially from 1992 to 1997 when I wrote for a number of newspapers and did private consulting for two major bookmakers on the world snooker tour.

We had breakfast together twice. First at the Hilton Hotel in Wembley in 1990 the morning after Stephen Hendry won the Benson and Hedges Masters, and second at the Novotel in Sheffield the morning after Hendry beat Jimmy White in a final frame decider at the 1994 world championship.

Clive and I shared many other snooker arenas together, the most notable of which I believe was Ronnie O’Sullivan winning the UK snooker championship as a 17-year-old in 1993, and Stephen Hendry becoming the youngest ever world champion in 1990.

Indeed, the highlight of my snooker year was ringing up to renew my subscription to Clive’s magazine, Snooker Scene, and having our annual chat together.

My late Dad, who played Clive once when Clive won the Midlands amateur snooker championship in the 1960s, had every copy of Snooker Scene from the very first issue in 1971 right up to his passing in 2012, which he left to me. Since then, I’ve added 12 more years’ worth of my favourite magazine to my collection, even after Clive retired as editor due to his failing health.

Which simply underlines what a magnificent journalist for The Guardian and Snooker Scene Clive Everton really was, on top of his duties as a commentator. What a great legacy Clive has left behind.

Geoffrey Brooking

Hampshire

Tony Bourner is right that we tend not to harness small (or large) rivers for hydropower in this country (Letters, 27 September). The reasons are simple – it is uneconomic, and while “easy” to connect it is expensive per kWh.

Hydro schemes tend to feature large level differences to harness both power and volume by exploiting large natural flows or by building dams to create the storage and power potential. In England, very few sites offer these characteristics without causing damaging environmental effects.

Mill wheels tended to require ponds created by diverting river flows and passive energy storage, and a “race” to focus the power at the wheel. They did not operate 24/7 but were often intermittent to suit the working hours of the mill being powered and to build up storage volume. The power generated was low in modern terms.

In this country we have far greater and more reliable hydro potential in tidal flow schemes, but the government appears to prefer nuclear power to simple water-driven and non-polluting coastal hydro schemes.

The fact is that wind and solar are a lot cheaper at about 5p per kWh before you start transferring it to the point of use, when the various costs multiply the cost to the user to at least double or triple the generation cost – which is why easy does not mean cheap for either element.

It is also why solar on your roof or garden is the cheapest form of energy for most people, if they can be persuaded to finance it. Using your roof makes more sense in every sense than looking for a nearby river.

Michael Mann

Shrewsbury

I was unable to find Boris Johnson’s book in my local bookshop – but then I wasn’t looking in the fiction section.

G Forward

Stirling