The first duty of CM’s three boys when they moved up to Edinburgh from Leeds was to surprise me at 6:00am on my birthday.

The little one was most enthusiastic, especially when I said that I would play board games with him. Monopoly was his first choice. To the eldest I explained that I was also skilled at the more serious games, should he ever like to indulge in Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne.

They were all interested in my birthday presents. These mainly comprised slabs of expensive chocolate. CM himself reckoned that many of my well wishers were sycophants, attempting to curry favour by sending me birthday cards.

Meanwhile TPR wondered whether CM would make a good running partner.