It didn’t make sense to carry everything that we had packed on the second part of our highland holiday, so we left our excess baggage at the self-catering cottage in Pitlochry. We would call in to collect it on our return journey south in a week’s time.

Of course, we hadn’t considered that others would rent the cottage immediately after us. When we returned to the house, we found a family of three – a mother, father and a toddler – fast asleep upstairs. They stirred as I push open the bedroom door. As apology, I offered the parents a cup of tea.

Our belongings strewn around the place for the week had not caused any problems. In fact, the parents hadn’t even noticed them.

The family’s holiday had not been as restful as ours. The miserable worn-out wife told me that she had been left in charge of the boisterous toddler while her medic husband worked. She couldn’t even look forward to going home. She was ashamed to say that they lived in Hull.