IT is the most shattering experience of a young man’s life when he wakes up and quite reasonably says to himself: ‘I slept terribly last night.’ There might be myriad reasons for this. At my advancing age, too many drinks on a week night can spark a certain anxiety that leaves the mind racing too much for rest. Perhaps it is too hot. A shared bed can always be a risk when a partner is snoring too much. However, in this instance, it was none of these things. It was, in fact, sleeping in a tent, on top of a Land Rover Defender, in a field, in the middle of Storm Betty.
There’s a certain relief that comes with surviving a night in a storm protected by only two layers of canvas and a sleeping bag. In the morning, the grass is greener, the air is fresher, the sky a vivid shade