Courtesy appreciated; YourSay.

OLD age and airport queues have been instrumental in my wife and I taking our holiday in Devon this year.

At New Street Station, a member of the train staff saw me struggling with a fortnight's 'necessities' and promptly came to my assistance.

The train ran on time, was quiet, clean and comfortable.

In Teignmouth, we experienced the first of a number of occasions when local drivers, seeing us attempting to cross busy roads, stopped their vehicle and waited for us to cross.

Our national bus pass gave us wonderful scope to visit other resorts, this on a bus service that we are unlikely to ever see bettered.

All the drivers we encountered were polite, respectful, and never left any bus stop until all boarding passengers were seated.

Likewise, passengers wishing to alight pressed the bell and remained seated until the bus stopped.

This was indeed a different world for us and we were truly grateful.

Back to reality, at New Street Station there was a lengthy queue for a black cab. Our driver watched me struggle in and out of his tatty, unkempt vehicle with our luggage and never got out of his seat even when it was time to pay.

So why are things so different here? The courtesy of those who made our holiday so pleasurable cost nothing.

Dennis Herbert, Birmingham B11