All of the kerfuffle in the Gazette about the Bear Hotel takes me back to 1951 when I was young National Serviceman posted to Waller Barracks from Merseyside and our first weekend allowed out in town.

A group of us, looking for a drink, headed for the largest hotel we could find, The Bear.

On entering the bar in uniform, we were told in no uncertain manner that it was an officers’ establishment and we were told that the soldiers’ pub was the Great Western in Station Road.

I lived in Devizes for 50 years before moving and I never felt at ease when visiting the Bear Hotel, which I have done many times.

Peter Morgan, Harewood Close, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.