Our Romanian carpenter was overjoyed to get a mention in letters (What do you expect?, 11 July, page 32) and has taken to reading Building on a regular basis.
He asked me: "Who is this two Jags Prescott?" I explained he was the man in charge of taking people out of their cars and putting them on public transport but now he was recruiting people for the construction industry. He smiled and nodded knowingly, saying, "He's a wise man this John Prescott".

He was also taken by your news piece (18 July, page 11) and asked if we could have some Romanian signage on site. I explained that these signs were not likely to be stocked at our local suppliers. He said he did not think this a problem, as his cousin was a sign writer and he would sort me out some prices.

He was similarly impressed with the article on food (8 July, page 36), so much so that he asked our canteen lady, Betty, if she would knock up some traditional Romanian fare. Betty retorted that, if he wanted to keep his meatballs intact, that the bacon butties were still a good choice.

Meanwhile, our roofer, who went walkabout due to costly insurance (11 July, page 32) has sent a postcard from Spain. He has managed to procure roofing work locally, without insurance, and made reference to the scaffolding as being so unbelievable he would never moan about health and safety again. He also mentioned the paella was horrible and he was pining for a decent bacon sandwich.

Postscript

Greg Trickey, via email.