The drilling truck was enormous, and looked a bit strange with a mini-trailer attached to the back, but we needed somewhere to carry our plastic beach spades. We manoeuvred the vehicle onto the mudflats and set off in the direction of the sea, pulling the trailer behind us. The idea was to stop off at intervals to dig for whatever hidden treasures laid beneath the sand.

Before long we found two balls, much to the delight of our wee dog. Then we struck something most unusual: a clear carrier bag which contained a blue plastic life-size model of a dachshund. There was a note in blue ink too. It had been written by myself and TPR in 2001 in the style of a message in a bottle.

Neither of us had any recollection of placing the blue plastic dog in the bag, nor writing the note. However, when an official reached us on the mudflats to ask what we were doing there, the retrieval of personal items appeared to be a valid reason for trespass.