I had a few wet days at the end of my stay in Wales, but nothing too bad. Then we went for a family holiday on the Suffolk coast at Dunwich (I do like an article which begins with a brusque "There's a lot of nonsense talked about..."), where the weather was mostly gorgeous. Then, for a few days, we seemed to dodge the downpours in and to the East of The Dukeries. Clearly I am a repellant to poor weather, like something rubberised. Those seeking a cool but summery Summer are advised to cluster around me.

A woman in Newark told us: "We're waiting to be flooded. Last time it happened, it was those buggers in Nottingham. They've got these fancy flood gates and, when it was over for them, they opened them too fast and we got this surge. It was probably deliberate," she added, darkly.