OK, so here is another comment about going for a walk.  This time I am able to walk further, about a mile in fact. Past the farmhouse and along to the end of the tarmac road to where an unmetalled track leads down to the ford. We go out at about 3pm which means that the brilliant sun is low in the sky. It is a beautiful late autumn afternoon, and a favourite time of year for me.

Lacking the energy to walk far over the past few months has made me realise how important it is in politics! From delivering leaflets to knocking on doors, marching and protesting. I watch on in admiration at the thousands of people in London blocking bridges in protest at the lack of action to combat climate change.

Time and time again history has shown that concerted action by many citizens can effect change – it’s just that the influence may be neither immediate nor apparent. Walking and marching is an ancient political activity going back to Roman times and including the thirteenth century Peasants Revolt in England. It carries with it an implied threat, that of raising a mob to threaten anarchy. Unlike much past radical activity the urgency of climate change means we do not have the luxury of waiting years or even decades for change to happen.

I watch a few episodes of MASH on TV. Set during the 1950s Korean War the series was made during the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Its brave mixture of anti-war rhetoric, comedy, tragedy and wit makes it one of my favourite shoes of any kind, not just comedy.