It has many fine details - elegant lights, good ironwork and crowned with wonderful finial - all of which add to its sense of fun and enjoyment.

Regrettably it is very seldom used and yet we must be the envy of many towns for having such an attractive feature bang in the centre of town. When it is so little used it is perhaps perceived by some as of little importance so it becomes a place to be ill used, "to hang around in" and sometimes get vandalised.

We are grateful that Warwick District Council does maintain it so well despite the vandalism.

Although a very good programme of music is held above the steps to the glasshouse in Jephson's Gardens it should not be forgotten that the bandstand in the Pump Room Gardens was specially designed for open air performances.

This means shelter for the band and better acoustics for the audience.
It would be marvellous if our bandstand could have a much fuller programme and resume its original use. - R Bennion, committee member, CLARA (Central Leamington Residents' Association), Rugby Road, Leamington.

• Music added to the food festival menu

ON Sunday the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington hosted a wonderful food festival. The atmosphere was marvellous despite heavy showers. The aroma of delicious tasty food was alluring.

But, the exciting element was provided by live music in the bandstand.
While I and friends enjoyed wandering around the food stalls, a great jazz band, Lament, played live, undercover, in the dry bandstand. Their music was perfect for the occasion and venue.

I went to the bandstand and asked the performers whether they enjoyed playing in the Pump Room band-stand, in the dry, and were the acoustics good for them?

They were delighted with the whole environment, and said how much they would enjoy returning to the Pump Room Gardens to play again.

Warwick District Council need to invite Lament to play again, along with other groups and bands, but maybe next summer? - Jane Padley Mills (address supplied).

• Good idea but where are the bands?< /li>

YES, I do wholeheartedly agree with Rachel Chesterfield (Postbag August 22). The bandstand in the Pump Room Gardens should be made available for band shows - that is, if they can find any. Administrations have disbanded most of our county regiments and the bands that were in them. We probably had the finest regimental bands in the world and they used to be booked to play at the Pump Room Gardens every Sunday during the summer months. They were a joy to listen to and watch and the gardens used to be full of people when they played.

Unfortunately, not only have our regimental bands gone, but administrations have also given away our fisheries, stopped investing in agriculture, sold our factories, financial institutions and utilities. In fact, almost everything of value has been given away or sold off.

Most of the things we enjoyed, like these free band shows, which we paid for through our council tax have been stopped. Now Labour is borrowing money hand-over-fist to sustain massive, unproductive public services that it created and the gilt-edged pensions for everyone in them. That's where where our council tax goes. Enjoyment for us - like listening to the band and free parking in Dormer Place - is a thing of the past. If only we could turn the clock back eleven years. - George Sullivan, Pinehurst, Leamington.