Seal of approval

Grrr, Friday traffic. Spent seven and a half hours behind the wheel driving to the Lake District for a meeting. Every year all the chairmen of various regional motoring writers' groups meet to discuss matters of mutual interest. As chairman of the Southern Group, mine is the longest trip, but it doesn't usually take that long!

We gather at a little hidden jewel of a hotel on the hillside above Lake Windermere, kindly hosted by Renault. Two things particularly caught my eye on arrival: this unusual bedroom wallpaper, and the quaint old-fashioned charm of the wax seal adorning the envelope with a welcome letter from the hotel manager.