SIR,

On Friday 13th January as he was out walking in the sunshine soon after noon, Mr John Davies, a retired geography teacher from Monmouth, spotted a large black cat crossing the narrow lane to the village of Lewstone.

A keen photographer, he had his Pentax camera suspended from his neck but the animal (which seemed to be much larger than a domestic cat) moved too quickly about 20 yards away for John to snap it.

On reflection, he wonders whether this incident was a good omen as he was on his way to a job interview.

John Davies

(Monmouth)