There was room for about a dozen of us in BW-H’s massive new house. Most of us had our own rooms. Those who did not were comfortable enough, including B’s friend John who slept on a sofa bed on the big landing. The house was, however, rather untidy, so ET-S and I set to work on a spring clean (of sorts).

Later – in the now-respectable sitting room – disaster struck. I chipped both my front teeth on a mug of Earl Grey tea. I now looked like Plug of the Beano’s Bash Street Kids. How would I get through a day at work resembling a comic strip character?

I made things worse by applying pink make-up to my face in haphazard fashion. I couldn’t correct my mistake because I had no make-up remover on me – and nor did anyone else in the men’s toilets.