More to do in Cardiff than just park and shop

I WOULD like to reply to the letter from John Eoin Douglas (“Pedestrianised streets are death to shops”).

If this is what we have become as a nation, we expect to get off our sofa, get into our car, park right outside wherever we want to visit! Otherwise we are not going to use them. Whatever happened to trains, buses, walking, park and ride?

Cardiff and Edinburgh are beautiful cities – surely you can walk around them, admire the architecture, visit a shop, speak to someone, receive good customer service and advice even if you don’t buy anything.

In the case of Cardiff, have a coffee, visit the castle or museum, both free, the castle if you are a Cardiff resident.

Listen to free music in St David’s Hall, have lunch, walk the Victorian arcades or sit in a flower-festooned park.

The choices are endless, but if this still isn’t enough to get off your sofa, no wonder we are the most obese nation in Europe.

Shame on all of you who order everything online and never interact with another person.

Howells of Cardiff means a lot to very many elderly people who do want to see and speak to a friendly face and whose staff’s customer service was far better than any other department store we have. Those who imagine these staff will be working in a boutique hotel are sadly mistaken – many will never work again. Elizabeth Williams Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff