When I was at school, the announcement of the annual Lenten retreat was awaited with some pleasure. It was a one-day event, held at various stages for the various year groups, and its main attraction was that for a full day there would be no lessons, and we would be allowed to go out of bounds. The school – St Philomena’s in Carshalton, which still flourishes – had and still has the most beautiful grounds, including a grotto and a lake, both of which were of course normally banned to us for safety reasons. But when on retreat we were meant to be spending the day in quiet reflection, so were allowed to roam freely.