OUR paper lad got extremely wet on Saturday morning in the snow, and so did our daily papers.

As I sat waiting for them to dry on the radiators, it suddenly occurred to me that I was probably the last of a generation who would do so.

How much easier, I thought, to simply put a laptop on my knee and get all the news and information that way. But I really can’t, I love my papers. I’ve even sacrificed satellite television and rugby league in order to pay for them.

I use my computer, of course I do, but somehow the paper seems to give me time to consider what I’m reading. I can put it down, immerse myself in profound or surreal thoughts, and then pick it up again. I’m not tracked by cookies or bothered by pop-ups and frozen screens.

I know that things move on and that I’m probably the last of a newspaper-reading generation, but for me, as long as all the news that’s fit to print is printed, I’ll carry on turning the pages (even when they’re crinkled after being dried on the radiator).

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland.