Letter: Chain letter

I refer to your article ''BR well on track for recording assets' (Business, 5 December). I do not understand why you regard chains as 'unhelpful measurements'. The chain is a good, old-fashioned decimal unit (10 chains - one furlong) and any Englishman who enjoys his racing knows what a furlong is. Isn't one chain the length of a cricket wicket (22 yards)?

The point is that the measurement has meaning for those who use it, like 75F has more meaning than 40C. Or 20 miles has far more meaning than, say, 30 kilometres.

Ian Maule

Tetney, Lincs