A nip in the air on a nice autumn day presages the onset of winter. As I walked the dog my thoughts turned to the changing of the clocks at the end of this month. Every year there is a cry from the south that we should not move them back to Greenwich Mean Time and, since we had the trial years ago, thankfully it comes to nothing. In the spring time they go forward again to British Standard Time at the end of March and by that time we are all keen and looking forward to it happening.

Let me suggest that, while it would be terrible to have it dark most of the morning in midwinter, there is something that would probably be welcomed by most people. The period between the change in October and the Winter Solstice near Christmas is around 10 weeks but the period from the solstice to the planned change in March is about 14 weeks; bring forward the start of BST to the end of February rather than March to make the periods roughly the same both sides of Christmas.

DS Blackwood,

1 Douglas Drive East,

Helensburgh.