SIR – May I relate two recent experiences, one delightful, the other a dismal story.

The first involved a train journey from Great Malvern to Tulloch in the Scottish Highlands.

The lass in the London- Midland booking office in Worcester went to endless trouble to make sure I was seated in the middle of the carriage on the single-seat side facing forward.

At Birmingham, the Cross-Country lounge provided food, drink and rest and the services of a kind attendant. My carriage was at the front of the train and I was so ill I could hardly shuffle along the platform to it.

However, a Cross-Country woman kept me upright, carried my bag and got me into my seat. I had not recovered by Glasgow where I was met by a porter with a buggy. I felt so ill I took a cab to the nearest A&E department and was kept in the hospital for four days.

After my stay, during which I was treated with unbelievable kindness, I was wheeled to the entrance, put in a cab and taken to the station. The cabman said “Put that fiver away, the social will pay”.

At Tulloch, the driver allowed us to cross the line ahead of the train but I lacked the strength to walk up the platform ramp. The entire train crew rushed out and cosseted me until an ambulance arrived.

I can’t think of another occasion in my life when I experienced such kindness from so many sources.

Per contra, my parish church, which shall remain nameless, is plastered with welcoming notices outside but within, when I went to deposit my monthly mite, treated me with such rudeness and contempt that I shall never again darken its doors.

OLIVER LEVER, Malvern.