Some of the Sawdays on holiday

We are obsessively private as a society, are we not? Borne down by terror of our neighbours, or by sheer exhaustion, or paranoia about strangers, we retreat into our shells. We are less community-minded than we once were, so it is not surprising that we miss the rowdy, congenial, amiable company of our larger social groups – extended family, circles of friends, even neighbours.

I am happy that it's so popular for large groups now to play together on holiday; it challenges my curmudgeonliness. And it is good that so many magnificent houses are NOT being broken down into smaller, more private, units but are simply tarted up to receive gatherings of the good, the young, the old, the grand and the less grand.