AM I being too pessimistic when I feel apprehensive about the future of Trowbridge as the county town?

Having just visited Salisbury and Swindon, I was struck by the vibrant feeling one gets in both places. Obviously they are bigger than Trowbridge, but they seemed to be pulsating and vigorous by comparison.

In this week's Wiltshire Times we have reports about the magistrates' courts in Trowbridge closing, the county record office moving and the proposed cinema turning out to be just a pipe dream.

When I walk through the Shires just after 9 o'clock in the morning, many of the shops are not open, indeed a few are still not open at 9.30. There seems to be an air of lethargy and resignation hanging over the town. True, the county council has its offices here, but with modern communications they could be anywhere.

Our new MP does nothing to lift my gloom when he describes Trowbridge as the civic amputee of Wiltshire in his column a fitting simile for a medical man, but let us hope the patient recovers.

D ROBERTS,

Biss Meadow,

Trowbridge.