Merton Street in 2012

A lovely day with mum and dad in Oxford. Walking over Christchurch meadows we were caught in a rain shower, so ducked into the college - to find ourselves in the box office for the Oxford Literary Festival.

So on the spur of the moment we bought tickets for the 4pm talk: Dan Smith, Ian Goldin and David Goodhart on 'Where will we be in 2050?' in Corpus Christi.

What luck! Sharp minds, concerns and optimism, insightful debate: I feel privileged to live amongst such people, and vow to come to more events like this.

What's more, we kept nice and dry - and when we emerged onto Merton Street the sun was shining nicely on the puddles. Maybe by 2050 they'll have fixed the drains...