For more years than we would care to calculate, I have been friends with Michele, Richard’s sister. Along with their brother Charlie, the Graham-Wood’s hospitality gene glows brightly, so we met at lots of noisy family gatherings. I remember beach holidays near Land’s End, Richard and Susie with a gaggle of tiny girls. Then a wedding at the same place, the gangly girls now seriously good-looking women. Who stole those babies? One Christmas I was alone and miserable until Michele, Richard and Susie took me in and fattened me up. A festive memory I will never forget is Richard on New Year’s Eve conducting a merry dance around Knolton’s tall, towering Christmas tree. It was 4am, the champagne was flowing and the coming year had turned from looking gloomy to positively glittering. Not many men can achieve that, at least with the lights on.