“Every letter Peter Drinkwater of Shipston writes is a protest against progress,” the Journal reported 20 years ago, “and everyone who has received a letter from him won’t even throw the envelope away.”

The report of 1990 continued: “As an accomplished calligrapher Mr Drinkwater uses exquisite colours and a delicate hand that stretches the elegance of 16th century handwriting across each letter and each envelope. The stamp in the right- hand corner alone identifies his letters with the 20th century “According to Mr Drinkwater, his skills hark back to a time when writing was done with a high degree of care – good handwriting was a point of etiquette.

“It was a time when there was never a sloppy hand and good manners were present even when paying bills. ‘The speed and technology of this world has destroyed the art of handwriting,’ said Mr Drinkwater a self-employed publisher. ‘Life has become rushed and handwriting seen as a poor substitute for typewriting and word processing.’ “Mr Drinkwater uses his own paper and writes with a flexible pointed copper plated nib. If he hasn’t the time to address the letter in ‘the proper’ manner then he hasn’t time to write it.

“Friends and acquaintances, both locally and as far as Australia, receive letters from Mr Drinkwater.

“And as one lady from Lower Lemington says, she would never dream of throwing her envelopes away.”