I published my first school newspaper when I was still at Primary School – using an old typewriter and reproduced on a Roneo machine (if you remember these, you must be nearly as old as me). By the time I went to secondary school, I was making pretend radio programmes on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Little wonder I ended up earning a living through writing and broadcasting.

It’s not how I started out, though. Joining a firm of stockbrokers as a clerk straight from school, I went on to have a successful career in the City. Taking early retirement, writing and broadcasting took over and I had the time to explore Portugal more, ending up in the Western Algarve where we had friends and family connections.

Our house of ten years in Luz overlooks the beach and our Jack Russell, Boris, is a familiar sight in the village. Tomorrow magazine was required reading from when we first arrived back in 2007 and writing for it has been fun. What with writing and the local Anglican church, time does not hang heavy, but socialising with our many friends, preferably with a glass of wine in hand, remains key.