I RECENTLY received a letter from an ex-pat German emigree, Alan Goodwin, about the rundown state of Westleigh, our birthplace. I had to agree that progress has not done a lot for the area.

Most of the lovely little shops have gone, and the towel has even gone on for good at the Fleece and Red Lion, now up for sale.

In my days there, shops started at Victoria Street and intermingled with homes all the way to Nel Pan Lane.

There was a pie shop on the corner of Victoria Street which must have done a bomb from the millworkers, a newsagents, Cook's Shoes, Annie 'that'll be threepence halfpenny, sixpence halfpenny' Glover's off-licence, Birchall's butchers, Texter's grocers, the PO (still there today), Hilton's decorators and many more around St Paul's School.

On the other side, there was The White House, Norman Heggerty's, where I gained work experience at the age of 10, and was paid 10 bob and a Dairy Milk bar.

It was a great experience behind the counter, serving and doing both mental arithmetic and adding up foot-long lists of prices.

Then there was Davies' fish shop, where Auntie Rosie used to take us to collect eggs from Monton, and the Holt Street Co-op of course, followed by Benson's chippy, now Shirley's Plaice, Boydell's chemists and onwards and upwards. I used them all and remember them with great delight.

The community spirit was amazing, even though there wasn't much brass about. Where has all that gone?

Try as they may to encourage it, the superstores, which, let's face it, put the little man out of business, will never bring back that camaraderie.

They may have kept prices down, but people in need are no longer able to nip to the shop and pay on Friday.

Time has moved on, but I'm only glad I lived there when I did.

It's sad to see the complaints about areas like Yates Street, where I played as a little 'un.