'So many things are disappearing in my lifetime!

Today I wrote a cheque. Surprising, as my purse is now taken over by small cards.

It costs the financial system billions of pounds each year to process cheques and it seems that it is mostly oldies who are the only ones using them. However, the cheques days are numbered although will continue as long as they are needed. But for how long? In future there won’t be anyone who doesn’t use the Internet, with computers, either laptop or desktop becoming a thing of the past when everyone is using a tablet or their phone.

The UK is fast becoming a cashless society. It’s a fact that we now have very little change in our purses. Many people conduct bank transfers and shop online. Bank numbers are echoing this trend. In 2023 HSBC are to close 114 branches and Lloyds Bank 36. The High Streets are becoming bank less.

Also sad is the death of the Post Office. For years now local branches have been systematically closing or housed in a small space at the end of a supermarket counter, causing total gridlock and long queues around the store! No privacy, no space and none of the personal service that we knew and loved about our Post Office for years.

You are probably reading this as part of your daily routine and in the format that you’ve always used, but the younger generation rarely read newspapers. They certainly do not subscribe to a daily delivered print edition or enjoy a walk to the paper shop. They prefer to get their news courtesy of mobile devices. Although it is known as ‘progress’ I’m not so sure. Surely, it’s another way of eliminating personal contact and is rather lonely.

The same applies to the demise of the book. I have said often that the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn pages will never become a thing of the past. But realising how many people never visit a library or actually ever read a book, I fear for the future. Reading broadens the mind, takes you to so many places, teaches you so much and helps lessen the chance of dementia. Don’t people realise how limited their world is?

The smell and feel of a book, the front covers, photographs of the author, not to mention the thrill of entering your local library or bookshop. It’s the way my husband feels about his collection of vinyl records.

Landline telephones and phone boxes will definitely be things of the past, and who will ever remember the days when we had bus conductors? ‘Move along down the bus please!’

It appears that keys may soon be obsolete as we will open house and car doors using our phones.

And what about suits? There seems to be a panic when a man has an occasion requiring a suit! But are suits really needed anyway as dress codes seem to have disappeared, apart from weddings when people still try to look elegant, including stylish hats for the female guests.

You can go on for ever, can’t you? All that we will have left soon, are our memories!