I had a meeting down in town with a couple of colleagues today. Our host suggested that rather than her office we could meet in a tea shop on St Giles, which sounded wonderfully civilised.

What we had neglected to note was the fact that this is the week of the annual St Giles fair, which sees this Oxford thoroughfare transformed into a gaudy fun fair. It turned out that the cafe was closed and I don’t blame them given the noise. We relocated a few streets away and had a very productive meeting, safely insulated from the clamour.