When I saw that Leith Walk was swarming with police, I began to understand why my colleagues in Engineering had expressed concern that I was walking down to the waterfront on my own. I couldn’t work out the reason for the huge police presence, but I was amused to see some very young officers – presumably on work experience – dressed in standard issue jackets with multi-coloured shorts.

It took some time for me to pick my way through the crowd of uniforms and make it to the bar where I was meeting TPR. Once there, I found my husband desperate to hand over his latest present for me.

I thought it a complete waste of money. Why would anyone pay £830 for a small plastic container about the size of an old-fashioned portable CD player, designed to hold a small supply of underwear? And who came up with the ridiculous idea of calling this contraption an ‘Albert’?