I was appalled at how my sister S had persuaded my parents to change the decor of their house. Flying ducks climbed the drawing room wall to the left of the fireplace, the dining room was hung with shop sale signs and posters bearing unknown slogans in Chinese script, and (worst of all) the Aga had been painted yellow. My parents seemed oblivious to these changes. From this I concluded that more were inevitable.

Meanwhile TPR had taken refuge from the chaos in an office at Nottingham University. He had turned the space into a bedroom for the pair of us. The office could be found just beyond the University’s magnificent new library.

Bounding up the library steps, I set off to find TPR. Along the way I marvelled at the interactive display boards that listed the University’s impressive collection of Nobel prize winners.