Lincoln Shaw, of Staverton, near Totnes, writes:

As a long range reader of your excellent Village Voice pages I was very sorry to read that Ron Skeates has had to give up his well written, witty and thoughtful comments about life in Aveton Gifford. For nine years he has given us a picture of life in a rural area with its problems as well as its many success stories.

It has also become clear that Ron himself has played a large part in the activities of his adopted village. We have never met but I feel I know him well from what he has written. Well done Ron and may you soon be restored to full health and start scribbling again.