Letter from the editor: It's good to be able to talk

Having moved to Falkirk shortly after getting married, they were over 100 miles away from relatives and this was the only way of keeping in touch.

Telephones, and this is going to make me sound like Methuselah, were rare in homes and tended to be in red boxes at the end of the street, only to be used in dire emergencies.

Deliveries from the Royal Mail – letters and the local paper from back home – were how people kept in touch.

Fast forward a ‘few’ decades and it is so different.

Nowadays even primary age children think having a mobile phone is the norm, and they seem to be permanently attached to teenagers – and some older people, if I’m being honest.

But not only is the art of letter writing dying out, it appears that the art of conversation is going the same way.

Whereas people would pick up the phone to contact The Falkirk Herald, they now send us an email or in growing numbers, leave us a Facebook message.

While it is an instant form of communication and means people can make contact when we’re not in the office, something is lost in the process.

When that vital piece of information we may need for a story is missing, we often find people have not left us a phone number to allow us to quickly get that information.

Please remember, it’s good to talk – and don’t forget your number!