@AnniD I've printed that off. @lyn you are correct, but there was no invoice either in a plastic envelope on the outside or inside in this instance. The address label was just a large sticky label. We'll use the label AnniD linked to before we lose the will to live entirely.
I find it odd @pansyface. Our nearby "town" has 1000 fewer residents than Bakewell but its facilities serve nearby villages too.  It has 2 banks offering full counter, loans, insurance, investment services by appointment plus cash machines and so on.
@Obelixx the banks claim that some of the rural branches they are closing have fewer than 20 customers per week. Note I do say "the banks claim".
Action does need to be taken to ensure people in general, but the elderly and vulnerable, have banking facilities that are actually accessible to them.
I live in a city with a population well in excess of 100,000 and we don't have a decent butcher. When supermarkets opened their own butchers, bakers, fishmongers etc it forced many small independent businesses to close. Later the supermarkets decided to close these facilities but obviously the independents were long gone by then. Our local indoor market had 2 really good fishmongers and at least 4 butchers. There is now one fishmonger who only opens a couple of days a week and a 'butcher' who only sells bulk trays of very mixed quality. I stopped using him when I came to split the tray of supposed lamb steaks (boneless) down and discovered lumps of fat and two large pieces of bone beneath the meat, presumably to make up the weight.
My curmudge starts with a reason to be cheerful, which is that our son, DIL and grandsons are visiting us from tomorrow from the UK. The curmudge is that this morning's heavy rain and strong wind was accompanied by a different noise, which turned out to be water splashing on the floor below the window in the bedroom where the boys will sleep. It's coming through the wall just above the window... can't see an obvious cause like a cracked roof tile, and of course we can't find a roofer until next week at the earliest (probably later, given the wind & rain we've had lately). Fingers crossed we don't have too much rain in the next few days...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I know this sounds harsh but in some ways I'm glad my parents aren't around now. My mother in particular lost her eyesight due to Macular disease. She couldn't use an ATM, let alone bank on line. There's probably hundreds of not thousands like her across the country, luckily they still had a bank branch that gave her all the help she needed, after my father died.Â
My curmudge is the same as yesterday - the smoke alarm went off again with constant beeping at 6.30 am this time, despite being partly dismounted and the battery removed. OH thinks it may be because he used a different numbered battery so I have now ordered two of the correct number online. Hopefully they will work. Further curmudge, I paid extra for next day delivery (i.e. Tuesday after the Bank Holiday) but text says it will be Wednesday. It wasn't worth going into town just for two small batteries.
Posts
There's also a PO, butcher, 2 bakers, a small supermarket, restaurant, cafés, florist, vet, opticians and trades. Like many rural towns, business is not flourishing but it's doing OK.
OH thinks it may be because he used a different numbered battery so I have now ordered two of the correct number online. Hopefully they will work. Further curmudge, I paid extra for next day delivery (i.e. Tuesday after the Bank Holiday) but text says it will be Wednesday. It wasn't worth going into town just for two small batteries.