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It’s been nine months since we were last at Thorndon Park (my 2009 birthday to be precise), the Essex walkers’ paradise. A 400-acre country park, its myriad of forest trails and tracks, green spaces and bushy clearings ensure there’s something for all open-air types. It was busy today, too, proof if proof were needed that outdoor pursuits are very much alive and kicking. We took mum as she’s down for the long weekend, and although we were on the go for two hours, the 4-mile trek around one of Thorndon’s longest routes was more than enough.

We headed south first towards the A127 and then looped back north, past piles of felled trees and endless dog walkers with their canine friends. Back at the car, we headed out to Andrew and Sheila’s for an on-the-way-home cuppa, and then home proper, where we spent the third evening in a row playing cards, although Geoff was an extra four-handed cribbage partner tonight. Happy times.

Last time I walked the pier at Southend, it was cold and windy. Today when we walked the pier it was cold and windy. So, so windy. There may have been over three years and two seasons separating the two strolls down the 1.3-mile wooden walkway, but the weather was uncannily similar. We just made it back to dry land, literally, too, as the heavens opened just as we headed inside one of the seafront cafés for our fish, chips and mushy peas. With Katharine, Luke and Emilie up from London, we spent the afternoon winning at bingo, playing air hockey and strolling down the promenade before heading down to Leigh-on-Sea. An undiscovered jewel of a place, few would believe that Southend is in sight from the watery, boat-littered mud flats; two completely contrasting coastal resorts.