On the promise of a pie, GC agreed to drive the four of us – himself, TPR, JC and me – to Lochinver.

When we reached the edge of town, we parked the car and paddled along the shoreline in the direction of the pie shop.

Unaware that the tide was coming in, GC, JC and I soon found ourselves up to our waists in water. TPR, however, sat smugly in the shallows in his swimming shorts.