Having been unable to visit folk clubs for most of my life due to the distress I felt when having to breathe in second hand smoke, I sometimes wonder what difference it would have made to my life if smoking in public had been banned - say - back in the 60s.

An even greater imponderable is what difference it would have made to my whole family if smoking had been declared harmful before my father developed a smoking related illness which prevented him from working, threw the family into poverty, and stopped his children going into higher education.

Ah well - at least I can sing now, and I got a degree from the Open University, and it is good to know that some heart attacks appear to be being prevented.

Anne Croucher