Sheesh! It has been a bit of a wild day here weather-wise! However, I still went out for a walk: nothing like a bit of bracing fresh air to clear the cobwebs away!

At the bottom of our lane, not only can you find this lovely Georgian post box, but also a Post Office. That's right - in these days of mass closures, there is still a Post Office to be found in Middle of Nowhere. And it isn't your average Post Office either, because it is located in the Postmistress's house. You knock on the door, and she'll be there in her living room drinking a cup of tea. She gets up, opens the door of the other front room and within is the PO - all computerised, mod cons and everything.

The Postmistress herself is a truly wonderful lady. She is well past retirement age, but still runs the Post Office every weekday morning. I have her known all my life. In fact she is one of the few remaining members of the community I knew as a child. Everyone else has either moved away or passed on and the people who have replaced them mostly keep themselves to themselves, very much as has happened throughout the towns and cities of Britain. Our sense of community is dying.

I find it rather sad.