REGARDING David Pressley's comments, I welcome his vision for a centre for decorative arts and crafts based in Blackburn, but would like to correct his reference to the Whitworth Art Gallery's collection of historic wallpapers.

The bulk of this wide-ranging collection came to the gallery from the Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd in 1967, has been added to considerably since and is now second in size and scope to the national collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Far from being 'unseen,' the collection is displayed in a wide range of exhibitions. For example, a selection was recently included in Reflecting Japan, which explored the influence of Japanese art and design on the West since the 1860s and Helen Walsh, a project assistant who has been working with the collection since July 2001, has created a display of the wallpapers she has found most interesting during her time at the gallery.

This will be on show until May 26, making way at the beginning of June for a stunning late 19th century paper issued originally to celebrate the reign of Queen Victoria and now being shown to coincide with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee.

The Whitworth Art Gallery was originally founded as a museum of industrial art and design with the aim of inspiring and improving Manchester's textile design and production. We remain committed to encouraging the study of our collections and the use of the wonderful items held by the gallery as an inspiration for new work.

We boast the only full-time curator of wallpapers in the UK and try to ensure that access to our collections is open to as many people as possible. Our website includes a collections database which provides information about items held by the gallery.

If people would like to make an appointment to view something not on display they can do so by phoning 0161 275 7450.

We hope that David Pressley is successful in his project and would be happy to offer assistance to him based on our own experience as a centre for the study and display of art and design.

KATHARINE de LISLE, Marketing Officer, Whitworth Art Gallery.