MR POWELL’S letter (Araf Alarm) brought back happy memories of my childhood when arafs were more abundant than today.

I had one which I named Flash (I considered Gordon, but it didn’t sound right). He was a race-trained araf and could attain speeds of a yard an hour (then, a metre was a box you put a penny into when the gas light went out).

We fed him on araf worms in training. Many a happy weekend we spent walking him around the garden until one day, on a walk, he died, and it was four hours before we realised. Happy days!

Derek Everett Crindau Road Newport