I spent the eve of my stone age adventure in Reading. MP and his wife A hosted my visit in their large, modern house. No longer a family home, it was still littered with evidence of the departed children. I coveted the plastic jointed toy snake coiled around the banister at the foot of the stairs.

The next morning I woke bright and early to exchange my white silk pyjamas for an authentic stone age outfit: a coarse grey tunic. Then I met Ruaridh Aldridge, my companion for the day. He was just as excited as I was as we waded, swam and surfed down the river to join the other adventurers at the seashore. My last act on land before we clambered into the coracle for the journey across the sea was to leave a welcome message for those who would meet these shores several centuries later. I dug the words into the muddy bank: “Hello Vikings. Beware the mafia”.