Exmouth auctioneer Piers Motley-Nash writes for the Journal

When I took over Bicton Street Auction Rooms eleven years ago I considered it essential to never miss a phone call. So it was that five months later, with calls on divert to my mobile, that I received a call on Boxing Day asking if I was open. I replied that I was spending Christmas with my mother and would be open the following week.

Mobile phones can mean that you are on call 24/7 and I think there is more to life than this. Two phones and a few years later my phone broke (while I was travelling in Indonesia) and I did not replace it.

I remember a time when you couldn't call your partner from the supermarket to check whether they wanted a Merlot or Cab Sauv and you certainly couldn't post a picture of your starter at Zizzi's and post it on social media (not that there's much of that going on at the moment!). I remember a much simpler time when people did not get frustrated that they could not get hold of you.

The rest of my family are all on a WhatsApp Group and a bit frustrated that I was not included, though I sometimes caught bits of it on my wife's phone.

My family call me 'Edwardian Man' because I don't have a phone and probably various other reasons also, like not knowing what K-pop is.

When I first travelled through Africa for six months in the early 90's there were no mobile phones and I kept in contact by Post Restante and very occasionally a phone call. Many of the postcards I sent did not arrive until after I returned. Anyway, with delayed plans for a solo overland trip to Algeria I had said I would get a new phone so that I could stay in contact.

I'm not going to be diverting my business to my mobile phone but I've already set it up, got WhatsApp, Facebook etc. In this lock-down being in contact and being able to be contacted is important. Joining in joint family conversations helps things feel just that bit more normal. Seeing my mother and sister's family, aunts, cousins and their children makes life a little more normal.