That change of clocks means that darkness falls quick and early which means that, on an average working day, I need to make sure my bike lights are ready for the journey. Yesterday morning I had to do a bit of maintenance to the large light cum reflector attached to the back of my bike as, sometime over the summer, the plastic switch had got knocked off.

I realised I could bodge a switch together by cutting down a plastic wall plug. Operation is by key – any small key will do – pushing the plug up to force the internal copper strips into contact or down to let them separate. It worked well last night; I’ll have to see how it holds up over time. That gives me front and rear lights mounted on the bike as well as small front and rear USB lights also fitted to my cycling helmet, so I should be lit up enough as well as having a fail-safe to get me home if any one of the lights stops working.