WHEN I was growing up in the 50s, there were two things in particular upon which my father – a gentle Irish GP – and I profoundly disagreed.

One was that there would ever be space-flight and the other was the Beatles, dismissed by my Dad as 'modern rubbish'.

I have thought about that often when I see projects about colonising Mars, and when, as today, I played my favourite CD, the Beatles No 1 collection.

I am always moved by the beauty of the melodies and especially by the words, and here I refer particularly to the song “Eleanor Rigby.” The theme is loneliness - Eleanor Rigby “waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for? All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?”

And then there is “Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no-one will hear, no-one comes near. Darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there... Eleanor Rigby, died in the church and was buried along with her name… nobody came….”

Such vivid imagery, it makes my eyes fill every time I hear it. And the sad thing is, it is so relevant today. So many lonely people, now that families live far apart. And social media rather than real people, occupy the minds of the young - and not so young.

The song reminds us that we must be aware of our neighbours, especially those living alone, and ensure that they have someone to talk to, a real person. We must be sure that there are no Eleanor Rigbys in our communities, that is what being a good neighbour is all about.

Carolyn Jones

(Hon. Sec., Altrincham Interfaith Group and member of Dunham Road Unitarian Chapel).