Determined to celebrate Liam Heath & Jon Schofield’s Silver Medal in the kayaking thing (Liam’s Mum & Dad are good friends of several decades standing), and also to raise a glass to a some very dear friends who had just lost a parent we both knew well, it was probably a mistake to wander into an establishment that (a) butchered and hung their own 28 day beef, (b) had a charming boss man that looked just like a young Ian A Anderson (another dear friend of …), (c) clotted their own cream and (d) had a large back catalogue of Chateau Musar vintages.

After a thoroughly decadent meal at Gales Wine Bar cum Hotel cum Wine Shop cum whatever, including a splendid bottle of Chateau Musar (a favourite world-class wine from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon), we retired somewhat the worse for wear financially for a well deserved night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, the Llangollen Basin is home to an irascible flock of ducks who quack and squawk and fight loudly pretty much all night long. When they do stop quacking, it’s because they are also the kind of ducks that like nibbling at the green algae that inevitably forms along the boat’s waterline. The aquatic pecking sounds like a very quiet pneumatic drill, or someone tapping their fingers quietly on the table, just inches from your head, and is nigh on impossible to ignore. There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep…