BERNARD KELLY, director of resources, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, replies:

I have great sympathy with the sentiments expressed by Ms Lumb on the closure of Birdsgrove House and the objects that were presented in memory of individual pharmacists. Where possible we have attempted to place such donated items in appropriate locations. In fact in the case of the Medicinal Tablet painted by Shirley Ann Nunn and donated in the memory of Harry Burlinson we have, after consultation with Mrs Burlinson, arranged for the tablet to be loaned to the Manchester School of Pharmacy where it will be displayed in one of its meeting rooms.

However, in the case of garden benches it would have been extremely difficult to have gained permission from an appropriate authority to have these placed in a suitable public setting. We would also be concerned at the thought of what might happen to the benches if placed in a public location where they might be subject to vandalism. I prefer to think instead that the many pharmacists who visited Birdsgrove House and attended the auction will have bought these benches and placed them in private gardens where they would be cared for and appreciated.