Longlands heroics Sir, Congratulations to Queen Katherine School Table tennis boys on becoming North West champions at Under-16 level. However many other Cumbrian teams have been there before and it's good to see the QK team following in the footsteps of their predecessors at Longlands Boys School.

In fairness, we should also recognise other outstanding Cumbrian schools of the 1975-80 era. Millom School in the county was then the best table tennis team in all England. Coached by the legendary John Reed, they won no fewer than 10 national titles, both boys and girls, at three different age ranges, over a period of six years. Such a record will never be equalled.

In the peak year of 1978, Cumbrian teams reached five national finals, Millom School winning twice. Longlands Boys (Kendal) played then at under-13 age group and came second. Their captain, Stephen Dixon, was selected as an English schoolboy international against France, Scotland and Norway.

In 1980, the last year of Longlands, the same boys become national champions at under-16 level. Two former players from this team are now among the top people in the Kendal and District League with Stephen Dixon and David Archer often featuring in your reports.

Let's hope the present QK boys can recapture some of the glory days of Cumbrian schools' table tennis, and I wish them all success in the next round of the North of England final - and maybe later at national level.

Ted Bowness (Longlands Boys School 1971-80)

(Sports Editor: My apologies to all concerned for mistakenly attributing QKS as the first Cumbrians to become NW U16 champions and thanks to Ted for putting us right). League table tennis on page page 22.