We faced challenges before even getting onto the ice. Owain had to be persuaded not to spend his lunch money on a hot chocolate at the station; Max had to learn how to open a frozen car door; Izzy had to be physically stopped from cleaning the floor at Somerset House; Josh had to make sure he was awake after his 8am double bass lesson; Harvey had to make sure he was awake...

I would like to say that Tom Cousins bucked the family trend and arrived on time at the right place. Sadly I can’t. Whilst he did arrive at an ice-skating venue on time, even early, he went to the Natural History Museum rather than Somerset House. (As Meatloaf almost said: one out of two ain’t bad). Result – he didn’t get to the right place until about half way through the session.

Meanwhile, everyone else was having a great time. The professionals (JV, Nina, Jenny, Ellie), as always, showed their class; Ed, Hugh and Peter glided effortlessly over the ice; Rach and Aimee skated elegantly; and the veterans (Mark, Judge senior and Summers seniors) skated (just). It was generally agreed that the crème egg for style should go to Ric. Oblivious to the mayhem they were causing around them, Alasdair, Harvey, Angus, Izzy, Owain, Max, Sam and Josh played some sort of hat-stealing game, which became so vicious that Angus lost a contact lens.

The session ended all too soon (at least for yours truly, the keeper of bags, drinker of coffee and eater of chocolate cake), and we walked at least 20 metres to the pizza restaurant. We walked, of course, to reduce our carbonara footprint, in a spirit of (four) seasonal goodwill.