Where have all the little grocers shops gone? Twenty five years ago, most of Britain was overrun with little establishments run by hairless old men with specs who stocked only four or five products, covering the basic nutritional requirements. These minimalist general stores were as ubiquitous as McDonalds are today. And old fellows in shops always had stories to tell - of runaway steam trains and daring dawn raids on Jerry (or in some cases, dawn raids on the Boers).

The main item they always sold was jelly. They had several flavours, in a nice display. Jelly always comes in handy. They also had an extensive range of soups, covering all the flavours that matter - tomato, vegetable and exotic oxtail. Sometimes there were cornflakes too. As with many such pairings, one old gent was always nice and one was nasty. But you could never tell who was what. And I suppose now we never will.