IT WAS in March 1962 that Mr TA Swan of Cathcart Road, Glasgow, took advantage of the mobile bedside phone at Hairmyres Hospital during his stay there.

He looks as though he is on the mend from whatever condition took him there, so hopefully he was calling relatives to say he was ready to be picked up to come home.

It is also to be hoped that someone was at the other end of the line to answer his call in the days before answering machines and mobiles that don't require wires and bedside cabinets on wheels to allow use.

It's easy to forget the days when having a telephone conversation meant you had to be attached to the wall.

But whatever the means of communication, old- fashioned phone, new mobile, email or Tweet, if the message is one that can bring a smile, it doesn't matter how it's delivered.