This Easter was compressed for me, in that from the middle of Holy Week till my alarm clock rang on Monday 1 April, it was crammed with activity of two varieties: a spiritual retreat which took me to Holy Saturday afternoon and, apart from liturgical activities, a magnificent lunch with friends at their home on Easter Sunday. The Holy Week retreat I had already done in the last couple of years – it seemed ideal for a retired schoolmaster and bachelor – but at 80-plus, how would I fare?

For most of my adult life I’ve gone on a three-day retreat each year, be it in an abbey like Quarr or a retreat centre such as Wickenden Manor in Sussex, which is where I went this year. The manor, achieved in a beautiful early-Jacobean style, was completed just after the First World War by members of the Messel family, who had a connection with Field Marshal Haig, as well as with the local nobility. In former days, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attended a ball there, and spent the night.