I’d accidentally joined a cult. At first I thought that these dozen or so people – including my school friend CC – were just slightly strange. However, the more time I spent with them, the more apparent it became that their collective world view was not normal.

I resolved to escape in the middle of a supposed “training course”. A wild-haired hippy woman obsessed with jazz was very rude to me because I’d turned up late to her “dialect” class, even though I had a valid excuse (photographing ducklings).

At around the same time this tutor upset me I also discovered the underhand practice of the cult leader. At the end of the working day, the crazy woman in charge of the whole enterprise issued orders to my class members (only) to complete menial tasks, such as polishing the classroom desks. I was pretty certain that no other training provider would expect such a thing of its paying participants, and this became my signal to plan my escape.