The nights are closing in – so summertime is here again kids

As children we were so excited about the start of the school holidays that no-one ever queried why they only got under way a month after Midsummer's Day.

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Had we done so then there were legitimate questions to ask as to why the best time of the year for playing out was a full four weeks past its halfway point before we were free from the shackles of lessons.

Although the countdown to the holidays was filled with sports days, fetes and classes on the playing field, we were duped into thinking that summer only got under way on the day that term-time ended.