Thanks for all your comments, especially those that say I make them laugh. I never understand comedians who don't feel they have been real actors until they have played Lady Macbeth. I heard Miriam Margolyes on Desert Island Discs saying that she was not satisfied with her career because she has only done comic parts. I think it must be wonderful to have made as many millions of us laugh as she has.

However, this must start on a sad note as Friday's Advertiser contained the bad news I have been expecting. Turtles is to close down at Christmas. Its fate has been in the balance ever since the planners came up with the idea of Park Place, yet another "retail development". How many of those do we need? The only firms that can afford to have premises in them are the chain stores and chain restaurants that serve but also blight our cities by making their centres indistinguishable from one another.

In my opinion Croydon has seven splendid distinguishing assets:

1. The Clocktower. I am proud to take visitors who, let's face it, aren't expecting much of Croydon, to see it. The old and new architecture has been so skilfully blended to house excellent lending, reference and local history libraries, where the staff are always willing to help you rather than leave you to cope with the computers. As well there is a permanent exhibition, a room which has enterprising temporary ones, a cinema which shows very recent films at much lower prices than in town (especially for OAPs – sorry, "senior citizens"). In the children's library there are story times where the mothers and toddlers can socialise as well as enjoy the entertainment. And the café is good too.

2. The beautiful, ancient Whitgift almshouses, which are such an adornment to the centre, especially when the gate is open and you can see the lovely, green courtyard. The dreaded planners wanted to demolish them in the 1930s in order to widen the road, but the people of Croydon said a loud NO on that occasion and we still have them.

3. The excellent train service to London, Gatwick and the coast. The tram isn't bad either, but we wouldn't want to go to Wimbledon so often if Croydon were most interesting! And we have heaps of buses.

4.The Whitgift School. We have a lot to thank Archbishop Whitgift for all these centuries after his death.

5. The splendid fishmonger's shop on George Street which sells a huge variety of fresh fish and the jolly staff are willing to scale, fillet, clean, slice, advise on cooking, in fact do everything but eat it for you. It is particularly popular with pensioners who get a 20 per cent discount on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can show your bus pass, but some of us don't exactly need any proof!

6. Around the corner is our 700-year-old market. It is so good to be able to buy fruit and vegetables not all wrapped up in plastic, and in many cases you can pick and choose. Make sure it says "pick your own", though, as some stall holders don't want you to and can tell you off a bit sharpish. I like that - it all seems so much more like real life than the supermarket. Also the prices are much, much lower. It is decreasing in size, though, year by year as the next generation hesitates to take on this hard life, but it will continue if we use it and make their effort worth while.

7. Turtles. Although it is not technically "wheel-chair accessible" it is better than that. Stairs need only be difficult for you, not impossible, for one of the staff to offer to fetch what you want from upstairs. They will bring down a choice of tools or paint or whatever you want, and help you choose for they are of the old school of shop assistants who actually know about their stock. In the sewing department you can find all sorts of buttons and trimmings and threads that you have to climb to the top floor of the big stores to find. Those ladies, too, understand sewing and take an interest in what you are making and give advice. The irony of the situation is that the shop will be closing down just as we need it more. DIY will be coming into its own again as the economy slows down and we have to be a bit more careful with money, and sewing and knitting are becoming more popular as people are realising that you can make something more individual and feel proud of what you have made and that it's fun to create things.

Of course it's up to the public to support the individualistic shops, "use it or lose it", but I would think that, for sensible economic reasons, they could be offered some special terms within a shopping mall, because customers who seek them out will also buy in neighbouring shops.

Perhaps you have your own favourite Croydon treasures that we can save from the bulldozers?