MAY I congratulate Mr G Smith on his almost Wikipedean knowledge of the history of Wessex whilst assuring him that my previous letter was not aimed directly at him.

The main thrust was to encourage discussion on the subject of a new name for the 'Super Council' and afford an opportunity through our excellent local newspaper for those affected to have their say and indeed Mr Smith has contributed to this discussion.

I hope others may take the time to make suggestions. In an attempt to balance the discussion in favour of Wessex could I express my admittedly limited historical knowledge: Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch were but a tiny part of the ancient Kingdom of Wessex, in fact Bournemouth itself hardly existed until the early 1800s, which until then consisted mostly of heathland and forest. So the Bournemouth part of the suggested title is hardly earned. It was only in Thomas Hardy's works that Dorset was specifically alluded to as Wessex, hence my reference to fiction. In my view, and it is only my view, adopting Wessex would be looking backwards instead of forward. As I said in my original letter, we are not Wessex and should be described as what we are, not what we were or might have been.

ALAN BEAN

Elgin Road, Bournemouth