THERE is no reason why Billie Piper, Diana Dors and the other Swindonians mentioned by W Duggan (Letters, Jan 30) might not be remembered in their own right but he is missing the point about Richard Jefferies.

If he hasn't read Jefferies works he cannot begin to understand why Coate and Jefferies are so inextricably linked. It matters not that he had to move within reach of London in the last few years of his life or where he was buried. His heart was always at Coate.

I am in the middle of reading Dewy Morn that was written three years before he died. The images within are all of Coate.

His description of the antics of a 10-year-old child rolling in a flower-rich meadow brings tears to the eyes. He appeals through the pages to parents that "if you wish your children to think deep things to know the holiest emotions take them to the woods and hills, and give them the freedom of the meadows. They need to feel unconsciously the influence of the air that blows, sun-sweetened, over fragrant hay; to feel the influence of deep shady woods, mile-deep in boughs the stream the high hills; they need to revel in long grass. Put away their books, and give them the freedom of the meadows. Do it at any cost or trouble to yourselves if you wish them to become great men and noble women."

This very minute, I have received a card from Sarah Fowles thanking me for my kind words on the death of her beloved John. She wrote: "Bevis he read every year, as a small boy, and as a teenager, and was a life long admirer of Richard Jefferies. I grew up in Idstone, so close to Jefferies country."

Give us a break, Mr Duggan. Don't criticise what you don't understand.

J SAUNDERS Longcot