We are very lucky in Wallingford to have so many great independent shops.

We have two chemist shops, a number of independent clothes shops, a great book shop, good butchers shop, Fairtrade shop and florists.

There is a good supermarket, great markets, even a returning music shop.

We have hairdressers a-plenty, shoe shops, a nail shop and phone repair shop, lighting shop and fabric shop.

We even have an ironmonger where you can still buy things singly if needed, plus many more.

It's not bad for a small market town – but we used to have so much more.

When my family moved here from Benson in 1985, there were three supermarkets, five butchers shops, two greengrocers, a fishmonger and two white goods shops. Also two music shops selling not only vinyl and CDs but Hi-Fis, TVs etc.

So what happened to them?

Well, we didn’t use them enough so we lost them.

How many times did we use the free bus to the new Tesco supermarket because we heard it was cheaper than shopping in Wallingford?

We examined a TV in Astley’s only to then buy it off the internet.

We stopped using the butcher, who had extensive knowledge of all the different cuts of meat and how to cook them, and bought pre-packed from the supermarket.

We looked at the fridges and washing machines in Seward’s and Colin Matthews, then bought a little cheaper elsewhere.

When supermarkets started selling wet fish, we found it easier to buy in one place rather than go a few yards to the fishmonger who could tell us which was the best fish for the time of year and could fillet it for us.

The Charter Market used to be twice the size it is now, supported by a smaller population in Wallingford than now, because more of us shopped locally.

Do you know the true cost of going elsewhere for all your shopping?

Have you counted up the cost of fuel, oil, road tax, insurance, parking, and importantly, your time against the potential savings of going elsewhere?

Of course, we cannot shop locally all the time: it would be boring apart from anything else to not see what else is on offer – but where it is reasonable to do so, do support your local shops and markets.

Otherwise, all too soon they, too, will be gone.

Email sw@sustainablewallingford.org to learn more about our work.