Many years ago, late-night Christmas shopping was one of my highlights of the year.

There was something rather romantic about the stores all staying open into the early evening; the lights twinkled, the festive music spilt from every shop and the silly string seemed generously applied to all pavements by revellers and school kids alike.

It only happened a handful of times a year in the run-up to the festive season, so it was always one to look forward to.

It was all part of the build-up to the big day. A little tradition akin to poring over the pages of the bumper double issues of the Radio Times and TV Times to see what televisual feasts the four channels we had to entertain us were serving up.

My memory of those times in the 1980s and early 1990s were of busy town centres; bustling high streets and a genuine sense of anticipation in the air. Perhaps it was simply because I was young.

But then this was an era before shops were widely opened on Sundays and supermarkets hadn’t yet opted to sprawl out over several acres of out-of-town estates selling anything and everything at all hours of the day and night.

The World Wide Web, meanwhile, was only being discussed around the dinner table of Tim Berners-Lee and his chums. I suspect they didn’t debate how it would change the way we shopped for Christmas. I wonder if it ever crossed their minds.

So those bolted-on few hours (it always seemed to be on a Thursday night) were very handy if you wanted to avoid the congestion hell of a town centre jaunt on the Saturday before Christmas.

I recall this because this week I popped into Westwood Cross in Thanet after work to take advantage of its extended opening hours. I was rather looking forward to it.

Now, I like Westwood Cross. It’s relatively compact, it’s rarely a struggle to find a parking space and there’s a reasonable range of stores.

It has, bizarrely, come to complement the town centres of Margate and Ramsgate as they both shift in the (let’s be honest, infinitely nicer) ‘independent traders’ direction. Ironic, given its opening had pretty much decimated them both.

Yet on a gloomy midweek evening, only the most ambitious of poets would suggest there was anything particularly magical about it.

The log cabins which make up the Christmas market had all shut up shop for the day, and the holes left by the departure from our high streets of a host of big names (Debenhams, Wilko - I’m looking at you) were keenly felt.

The lights were pretty but, as I strolled around it wasn’t exactly getting me in the mood. There is, after all, a limit to what Primark, Boots and TK Maxx can achieve.

In fact, I must admit, the few shops I popped into I spent most of the time thinking how much cheaper I could buy the same items online. Dreadful isn’t it? And, don’t get me wrong, Westwood Cross is not alone in this. Our frequently discussed changing habits have undermined memories of years gone by. The reality is most of us now opt to have our presents delivered to our doors.

I would say I came away empty-handed. But actually, I popped into the mammoth neighbouring Sainsbury’s on the way back and ended up buying a few stocking fillers there instead. Do I feel guilty? Not really. We have all – however much we might argue otherwise – stopped relying on the high street. Realistically, in these financially stricken times, if we know we can wait a day and save a decent chunk of our hard-earned cash we’ll let the delivery folk take the strain above and beyond our high street chains – or go to the pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap supermarkets.

Which, of course, is why so many of those chains tumble out of business.

We have all – however much we might argue otherwise – stopped relying on the high street.

It was a far cry from all those years ago when I felt returning from the shops with an assortment of different shaped bags and boxes – fingers red with having to carry them all - underlined a successful mission.

Times change and, of course, we must too. I shall simply make it a tradition to bang on about how things used to be different back in the day...just like every generation before me.

Have a happy blooming Christmas everyone.