THE report by David Higgerson on the intended closure of the Lewis Textile Museum in order to save £23,000 a year includes comments from the council leader Kate Hollern that "We don't have a hangman any more....nor do we employ a gas lighter-upper....we can't stay in the past."

Her comments are so inappropriate to the maintenance of a specialised museum that I think the hangman, if he were still alive, could perform one last job for the benefit of the townsfolk.

It is because we don't stay in the past that museums are needed to show the progress of civilisation.

Each generation must adapt to very changed conditions and it is important that the very young appreciate the different environment and working conditions of previous generations.

The matter ought to be dealt with by someone able to assess the benefits to schools, citizens and visitors, and who is able to look into alternative and perhaps cheaper presentations and ways of funding its upkeep, rather than left to those who are primarily concerned with trimming a budget.

RAY CUNLIFFE, Ellesmere Road, Willesden, London.