These last couple of weeks, Brighton – where I live – has been shaken up by a strike of the bin lorry men, with rubbish piling up around the large bins that can be found all around large parts of the city.

At first, things were not too bad, but then the bins gradually filled up and bags started to appear carefully deposited around the large bins. And then things degraded quickly.

Time flies and the warm season seems to be on its way out already. Of course, there are things we’ll miss: sitting in the warm sunshine, meeting friends on the porch late in the day, that feeling that the day is endless and there is enough time to do whatever needs doing.

But then many, if not most, of us seem to partially hibernate throughout the darker period of the year. We can now look forward to the joys of warm jumpers, hot drinks around the fireplace, huddling up in front of your TV set, and eating more ‘comfort food’ than we rightfully should.