SIR - I was sad to read that the Skipton branch of the TSB is scheduled to close. My late father was transferred in 1947 from the head office, in York, of what was then the York County Savings Bank (one of the fore-runners of the TSB) to open a new branch on Swadford Street. The bonus from my point of view was that I grew up in what I still consider to be a great town.

The wholesale closure of bank branches seems to be accelerating. The three part-time sub-branches of Barclays that I was privileged to run in the early 1960s, Buckden, Kettlewell and Grassington are long gone, but have left a lasting legacy in my love of Upper Wharfedale, particularly Langstrothdale.

Julian Hide

North Street

Sutton-in-Craven