TPR and my sister’s boyfriend CM managed to lift the shopping trolley over the back yard wall. I couldn’t scale it myself, so I went round to the front of the red-bricked terraced house in the hope that the owners would admit me through the main door. When they refused, I asked if they could instead give me a lift to the trolley’s final destination. They disappointed me again.

How would I find LP Hartley’s house on my own when I didn’t even know his address?