SIR – When Mike Priestley retired, I thought there could never be an adequate replacement for his regular columns.

Well, Mike, wherever you are these days, I no longer miss you quite so much – though it has taken several people to fill the gap.

The daily column written by various journalists, but in particular Helen Mead and Emma Clayton, has become an essential read in our house.

We laugh as we recognise our own whinges and dark mutterings as voiced by Helen, and Emma is the voice of conscience that we would like to ignore.

The perception and awareness they bring to their writing reflects what life is really about and it is reassuring to see that we are not alone in our interpretations of the short-comings of modern life.

Their in-depth articles which appear elsewhere in the T&A are well-observed and worth reading and remind us not to take their work too lightly, but the ability to fill a column with insights that hit the nail on the head displays an astute kind of journalism.

David Barnett’s recent piece about e-mail providers was also greeted with shouts of agreement, and with its religious observations, environmental concerns and child welfare this small space gives me a regular wealth of reading disproportionate to its size.

Shirley Thompson, March Cote Lane, Cottingley, Bingley