Thanks for the advice.
I do agree, the best camera is the one which is with you.
Indeed my firsr camera was a "Kodak Retinette" bought by the 'eld fella when he was a soldier. Was an old thing, but took great shots.
I have had some experience with an slr (I own a film slr, but now "enjoy" the advantages of digital).
I'm not a great photographer, but the slr allowed me more creativity, which the compact doesn't allow-eg there used to be a way of increasing the sharpness of everything in the shot, by selecting a small aperture and sliding the infinity point on the lens to the edge of the focus limits for that aperture. Invariably, I needed a tripod, but the results were good.
There's other stuff where it's hard to fool the compact, like shooting into light, or long exposure night shots. And focusing on one point exactly. (Sometimes possible by half holding down the shutter button-but fiddly).
Cheers again.