I WAS interested to read the recent article (Oxford Mail, October 22) about a new supermarket for Faringdon.

I lived there very happily for 22 years and still have strong connections, visit friends and occasionally have a ring at All Saints’ Church, where I was married.

During my 22 years there, I watched Pitts Mini Market, Co-op and International Stores supermarkets close; Langhams and O’Sullivan’s greengrocery close; Manners, Moretons (corner and haberdasher), Watts, Farmers, Blissetts, Lidiards, Seaborne & Rose, Mrs Allnut’s (small retail food and general stores) and Taylor’s fishmongers close.

This just left Carter’s, or Budgens as it is now.

Since I left, a couple more shops and two of the three butchers have closed.

As secretary to the residents’ association for eight years, I once remarked if it got any deader, Faringdon would need to be cremated.

Waitrose is not the cheapest of supermarkets by a long chalk and whereas the Park Road site might not be ideal (although having lived along the Butts Road estate it would have been very handy), I could not agree more with Matthew Barber (whom I have known since a small child) that Faringdon does indeed need a new supermarket.

It is a lovely little town, my first husband and his family lie peacefully there and it saddens me to see enormous housing growth and so little growth in facilities for the town to match the housing growth.

DOROTHY HOLLOWAY (Mrs), Wenrisc Drive, Minster Lovell