Colin Montgomery offers firsthand insight into the demise of some of the institutions he used to work at in Edinburgh, and David Kennedy points out that regional museums are being forced to shut while London continues to rake in funding

I read John Harris’s article on the demise of local museums – notably The People’s Story Museum in Edinburgh – with a smile (British history is being destroyed before our eyes – and it has nothing to do with culture wars over statues, 6 October). The smile was of fond recollection from someone who worked as an Edinburgh council museum attendant around 1996-97, including many hours at The People’s Story. Sadly, in all my time there, I rarely saw a great upswell of interest from the very working class of the city in the exhibits that celebrate their own history.

It wasn’t like that at every museum or venue I worked at over that year. The Museum of Childhood further up the Royal Mile? Mobbed (old toys tend to be a big draw). Ditto the City Art Centre on Market Street – high-end travelling exhibitions always ensured a good turnout. But The People’s Story’s local intake was patchy at best. Same for Huntly House Museum (as was) across the road. The nadir was my time at the Queensferry Museum in South Queensferry – also to be closed – celebrating the history of the town and the Forth Bridge outside the window. Attendance figures barely made double figures some days.