Our Council have issued residents with a card that doubles up as a library card but can also be used to access a free half hours parking in the high street on meters and in local car parks. I do try and support the high street it has lots of individual independent shops, plus a Marks Food hall, and of late a helluva lot of coffee shops, mostly independent ones, I try those ones out, but also Starbucks, Costa and Cafe Nero, which I avoid. I remember when I was a new mum living here there wasn't one, just restaurants. Of the charity shops, one in particular is brilliant, it has turned one outlet into a dedicated book shop, it has another shop for everything else, I always make a point of taking any books I am off loading there, it's set out so well and it's very popular. I go to the high street about once or twice a week. On my doorstep slightly nearer is a very large town where we have everything including a John Lewis so I suppose I go there more often, it's quite sprawling, I avoid it on Saturdays when it tends to be heaving the smaller high steet tends to serve the local community and has a more intimate friendly feel to it than the large town that draws in people from lots of outlying areas.