The culling of cash machines in rural areas

A woman on her mobile partly obscures what used to be the only cashpoint in the Shropshire hills

When I started walking in the Shropshire hills there was only one cashpoint in the area.

It was at one of the banks in Church Stretton, so a short holiday had to be planned so it took in a visit to the town.

Yes, some pubs in more remote areas would cash cheques, but you could not rely on it.

The Shropshire Star has a story about plans to reduce the number of cashpoints across the country:

The closing of cashpoints could potentially hit the smaller and more rural areas of Shropshire, with a number of towns already left without banks and only one cash machine available for miles. 

Megan Prince, who owns Ironbridge Bookshop, said: "It is a bit of a shame, as I know cash is a bit of a thing of the past now, but it is important to have cash available in small tourist towns as there are a lot of small independent businesses and not all of them take card payments or only take them over a certain amount.

You can do more without cash than you could 30 years ago, but it sounds as though things are coming full circle.