One of my favourite days of the year: when summer time ends and we’re back on standard. Because I never bother to check the date in advance, it’s always a surprise. I wake up at the ordinary hour and discover that it’s actually an hour earlier. That blessed miracle of an extra hour in the day!

And what to do with it? Well, today I’ve used it for an early trip to the gym, followed by a breakfast crepe from the cafe around the corner, and then a cosy morning thinking and writing and reading while the morning sun shines bright and the antiques sellers set up their stalls in the passage outside.

Night will fall early tonight, ushering in the season of wintry darkness here in London, but I’m ready with my candles and blankets.