Hello reader, and welcome to your first monthly newsletter from the Lancashire Post.

I'll be sending you a note at the same time every month as part of our commitment to you as a subscriber or registrant - and I want to hear back from you if you have any suggestions as to how we can improve our service.

Thankfully, the total lockdown we lived through earlier this year is over and we now have the chance to go to the shops, for a meal and even for a drink in a pub - albeit in a different way than before.

We've written a few articles to help you decide where you might head out for some nosh. If you are not yet confident enough for a sit-down meal, this piece on the best chip shops might be just the ticket.

And if you want to know some of the restaurants which will be taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, this might help.

And on the same subject, if you are looking for a bit of nostalgia (and who isn't!), take a look at photographer Neil Cross's walk down Memory Lane to view the restaurants we loved to eat at back in the day.  

While it does seem that a little bit of normality is returning to our lives, the sight of people wearing face coverings takes a little bit of getting used to.

Dropping my car off for its service this week, the staff who normally come to greet you stayed firmly behind their screens and visors...and the man in the queue behind me was wearing a Spiderman face mask! At least it made everyone in the garage smile... 

And if you just need a little bit of light relief from Covid-19, take a look at a Preston architect's vision of how the Docks might look one day.... complete with floating hotel pods!

You can access all of these stories and many more each day when you subscribe to lep.co.uk. 

The Lancashire Post is the most trusted source of local news and it is critical that we all support each other at a time like this. By paying to access our content, you can help us to sustain valuable local journalism now and into the future.  Please send me your feedback about this newsletter - or anything else you want to discuss - to [email protected]. 

I wish you and your loved ones all the best over the coming weeks. Take care and stay safe. Speak to you again soon.

Gillian

From the newsroom