DESPITE my stunned disbelief at your Old Manor photographs/captions feature (Journal, October 29) I did not dash off an immediate letter – had I done so it would not have been as measured as Clare Druett’s contribution last week (‘Talking freely’).

Mental health wards (even dilapidated ones like the old Nightingale clinic) can be a place of safety and give patients, and their worried families, a feeling of security and relief at a desperate time.

There’s nothing spooky about that.

I needed the help of the Nightingale ward over 30 years ago. Since that time I have needed the support of Dr Gwyn Davies and his team at Fountain Way – the buildings may have changed but the care and compassion remains the same.

So this is a public (but very belated) thank you to Salisbury’s Mental Heath Teams, past and present.

Maybe the Halloween link to the photoshop feature was illjudged but if its intention was to stimulate positive feedback about mental illness then it’s done the trick, and I am happy to join in!

JANE PROSSER Salisbury