Is it over yet?

There’s not too many things that I like about growing old... but not being dragged out on New Year’s Eve to spend an evening trying to catch the eye of harassed bar staff, while being elbowed by the class bully is one of them.

I’ve had my new year moments – in my youth I went for a paddle with pals in the fountains in Trafalgar Square (obviously in the days before they were boarded up).

Three of us rolled up our trouser legs just to say we’d done it. But then one grabbed the other two and pushed us over so we were soaked from head to foot.

It was hilarious... for about 30 seconds until the anaesthetic/ vodka wore off and the frost started to form on our skin. How we laughed when the instigator of the drenching, out of nowhere, conjured up a bag complete with a change of clothing.

Now I was happy to spend the last hours of 2018 in the com- fort of my own home, where the booze was plentiful. I think the barmaid even fancied me (Not much! –Mrs T).

And it was stress free apart from the occasional ‘you’re doing dry January’ comments from Mrs T.

I didn’t even stay up to welcome in 2019, although thanks to the neighbouring show-offs with their sonic boom fireworks I was awake for it. But by far the best bit was not having a desperate post midnight battle to grab a taxi.

I loved this picture by PT snapper David Lowndes from the annual traveller horse fair in Peterborough. Those horses look like the equine equivalent of twoTeddy Boys squaring up!