Emergency tips, Halloween meets Christmas – your letters and a spooky wedding picture from the archive

Farewell Peter, you’ll be missed

For many years, our dad, Peter Cole, wrote letters to the Star about a multitude of subjects. Some were signed as Peter Cole, others as Di’est.

Dad was hospitalised with Covid in 2020 and was proud to see someone ask after him, as they had not seen his letters for a while.

Peter was a very active member of the Wolverhampton Wheelers and the Camping and Caravanning Club for many years. Sadly, Peter Cole (Di’est) passed away on September 27, 2026.

He leaves behind his wife, Sonia, sons Christopher and Adam, their spouses Teresa and Lorraine, grandchildren Sophie, Alice, Millie, Max and Ruby, and great-grandchildren Joseph, Jackson, Zach, Elsie and Edyn. So, for one final time, thank you for reading the letters.

Adam and Christopher Cole, on behalf of Di’est

Norbert is busy squirrelling

Oh crikey! By the secret stash of nosh hidden away under Billy Bunter's bed, now the government are telling us to follow his example. So what are you squirrelling away for when everything stops working?

Uncle Norbert and I are well prepared. As well as such essentials as tins of Spam, corned beef and bottles of brown ale we have added other essentials so we can keep calm and carry on.

We have the following: two police truncheons, a roll of barbed wire, two heavy duty torches capable of persuading someone to leave our property, Ken Dodd's 10,000 favourite jokes, a static bike connected to a dynamo, a signed photo of Margaret Thatcher and four boxes of hardtack sea biscuits.

Oh I nearly forgot, darts and a dart board with a photo of Ed Miliband on it, facing away and bending over.

Peter Steggles, Rushbury

Shops mixed up with festivals

Happy Hallowfawkes-mass folks. At least this time of the year, the aching boredom of shopping is relieved by presentations in shops. Witches for Halloween; giant sky rocketsinviting you to buy this or that bit of explosive in order to outblast your neighbour; or rows of Christmas jumpers mixed in with Christmas cards.

The cusp of each celebration is where the problem arises, e.g. how you can have a giant black crawly spider in the next aisle to Santa? It just isn’t going to gel.

I have therefore come up with an ingenious solution. Why not, for example, have three wise skeletons, crowns and all, bearing gifts of sky rockets instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh? Then, to add to the theme, we could have a re-release of Slade’s Christmas song but change the words a bit, as in, say: “Does your granny always tell ya that the old ghouls were the best?”

Alan Etheridge, Midlands

• You can enjoy other pictures from the past and more with our weekly FREE Nostalgia Newsletter - with scores of archive pictures and exclusive features on the history of Shropshire and Mid Wales - all sent to your inbox every week. Sign up here

Have an opinion? We want to hear from you.

Share your views by writing to Readers’ Letters at [email protected]

Letters to the editor must include the writer’s name and address. Letters will only be published anonymously in exceptional circumstances. The editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity or style.

Do you have a picture from the past to share?

We would love to hear from you. Whether you have an old photograph, need help identifying a street or recognise a familiar face, send your images to [email protected]

Please include your name, where you are from and as much information as possible about the photograph. We will publish as many as we can online and in print.