Driving home from band rehearsals on a Sunday night often affords me a chance to dip into Radio 4’s obituary programme, Last Word. One of the names mentioned tonight was Dr D G Hessayon, author of a number of very popular books on gardening. Wikipedia suggests he actually passed away in January this year, making the item a little belated, but I was still surprised to find that he had been alive up until this year.

I probably first came across his books in the late 1970s and they were well established with multiple previous editions by then. I can’t quite remember the figures which were quoted but it was something like a third of British households having at least one of his books and a fair number having three or more. I’m not entirely sure that I’ve still got them all but I have certainly been in that category. That isn’t a bad legacy of influence to leave behind.