Last post for a fine service

The cost of a first class stamp will go up by 10p next month to £1.80, despite Royal Mail's repeated failure to meet delivery targets.

- Ken Rogers

The sorting office at Liverpool's main Victoria Street Post Office - a hive of activity seen here in 1966

The cost has more than doubled in six years, after eight rises, while second class stamps have had six price hikes, now going up 4p to 91p.I suppose we have to accept the fact that email and messaging is now all-dominant, with 70% fewer 'proper' letters now sent than was the case 20 years ago. However, when we do get some real mail in our house, the most exciting shout of the day remains that old-fashioned chorus: 'Postie's been.

This is usually followed by the more tempered thought: 'Oh, it's a brown one!' which usually suggests less than good news.

Maybe we should all commit ourselves to sending a friend or loved one at least one or two handwritten pieces of correspondence a year, just for old time's sake and no matter how much it costs. There would have been a time when we could all instantly recognise who a personal letter was from, just by the distinctive handwriting.