We had to reach Hexham in a hurry. We left so quickly that there wasn’t even time to try the figs in red wine. They looked so tempting, sitting in the silver platter on the sideboard.

TPR and I took the Volvo and my mother and sister S climbed into the Landrover. There was snow on the ground, but we coped well – until S decided that she would play Tom Cruise and leap from the roof of the Landrover to the bonnet of the Volvo when both vehicles were travelling at top speed.