I ALWAYS look forward to the ‘Then and Now’ column in the Advertiser, but I have particularly enjoyed the old photographs of the shops in the market square, behind the Guildhall, over the past couple of weeks.

That lovely building, Scotts shoe shop, was originally the office of Poore’s Brewery, although I believe the core of the structure was even older than that, dating back to the 16th century in origin.

It is incredible to think that Andover Borough Council allowed those wonderful buildings to be demolished (would it be allowed today?), only for it to be replaced by the concrete monstrosity we see today.

But should we really be surprised?

It was that same borough council that had, just a few years earlier, removed the cenotaph from the town centre.

We could try to reverse some of the 'architectural and cultural vandalism' of the past, starting with the return of the war memorial to its original spot in the high street, but sadly I think, even today, we have a borough council which cares as much for Andover’s history as it did in the 1950s and ’60s.

Dr Bob Roberts Millway Road Andover