n IN my letter headlined "Menace of the seagulls" (You Say, September 5), Three Choirs' Festival was printed without the apostrophe.
To safeguard my reputation, being an English and creative writing teacher, I must point out that my original letter contained an apostrophe to indicate that the festival belonged to the Three Choirs, as an apostrophe is the way we denote possession in English.
The omission of the apostrophe has led to several new words being coined, which can be very confusing to young learners.
Examples are: womens, mens and childrens, all of which, I am pleased to see, my spellchecker rejects.
I was also incorrectly corrected by a sub-editor in 1996 when my correct spelling of the French name Garret was changed to Garrett.
DAVID RYDER
New Street, Worcester.
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