Oh, the release! The joy! The absolute abandonment of any necessity to be part of anything!

One of the perks of ageing, and there are plenty, is not giving a shimmying shoot about whether you out on a Saturday night, go to events or ever get invited anywhere. In fact the ideal weekend diary is an entirely blank offering.

Socially acceptable lying (“Oh, we can’t make those dates…”) is the best defence against invitations to couples’ dinner at the homes of small town people with small town minds who want to show off their dinner plates and candle-lit house. It’s the 21st century and the days of 1970s-style Abigail’s parties are a receding dot on the timeline of social history. Thank God. Perhaps provincial England needs time to catch up. Like about 50 years.

So no more going absolutely anywhere on a Bank Holiday, particularly near a coast, no more wearing wobbly heels, no more queuing up anywhere for anything, no more sticking with a dreary TV series because you feel you must finish it – like homework. Er, why?

The only aspect of life to be aware of is FOMO of social contact, of conversation and of empathising with humankind. So while it’s entirely acceptable to draw away from set-piece ‘events’ and the pressing crowds, human contact is still essential. But cultivate friendships that are genuine rather than carrying on dutiful, habitual meetings with acquaintances who, if you are honest, bore you.

Step away from the well-worn path of habit and there are treasures to discover on other tracks. I visited Bermondsey in east London recently to take some photos. Just a few metres past the tourist throngs at Tower Bridge, where I took the picture above, were the near-deserted and atmospheric streets of former warehouses and the Thames path.

Going against the flow pays off. I recommend it.