IN most homes around our nation, it takes little to conjure memories of Ronnie Barker's Arkwright's store, or the ironmongers around which he had Ronnie Corbett limping in search of various purchases.

The humour works because - like the best comedy - they feed off the affinity we have for such places and people.

When we first saw them, they felt timeless - but for how much longer.

Neither would have survived if the backdrop had been edge-of-town superstores.

We'd have tittered. We might have recalled them, but the humour would have been functional. Nothing out of the ordinary - and we wouldn't have been talking about either of them, years later.

It might seem a big divide from comedy classics to the real life of Droitwich High Street but, we suspect, the same will be true there in years to come.

Machin's, the ironmongers, is shutting in October, after 97 years, because it can't compete with the big DIY stores in the town.

Third generation owner Andrew Machin says it's sad, but his loyal customers are either retiring or dying and "younger people seem content with the supermarket syndrome, finding goods for themselves and then hoping they've bought the right thing".

That's a little harsh on the army of staff who patrol the aisles at the "big boys", waiting to dispense advice - though it's not hard to see what causes him to say so.

We know the 21st Century's about mass consumerism. But asking for four candles, 'ose and peas in something akin to an aircraft hangar will never be the same.