Sir, - I wholeheartedly concur with John Waters on the subject of teapots (December 19th). It is so easy. Throw an old teabag into one of those silly little stainless steel teapots, fill with scalding water, add some milk from an even smaller jug and there you have it. A cup of stainless steel tea.
The whole arrangement is just an expensive, untidy mess. Good for profits, I bet, but bad, very bad for the traveller who wants - nothing more than an old fashioned cup of tea, with tealeaves, in an old fashioned china teapot with an old fashioned tea cosy, just to make him feel at home.
The marketing men will cringe with horror and say it is stainless steel or nothing; or if you insist upon a genuine china teapot, then there is a proper restaurant upstairs. This misses the point, if you are rushing to catch a plane or bus or taxi.
You see, the customer matters.
Yours, etc.,
Cherrymount,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.