The place was even more packed out than the Velazquez exhibition in January! (Admittedly down to the fact that the Thames Estuary Art Club has more humble premises than the National Gallery). A lot of the paintings were very good. So we have Mum and sister Mary doing their watercolours, Mum’s sister is a talented potter, Mum’s brother is a joiner who has done some remarkable things with wood, and sister Jane also dabbles with art. I’m still trying to work out how this artistic and creative streak managed to go through the whole family and miss me completely… a few websites and the odd semi-decent-by-fluke photo doesn’t really count.

Anyway. Coming back from Southend I was dead chuffed to see another badger warning sign, this time on the A127. Like the Isle of Wight sign it was a generic exclamation mark triangle sign with the word ‘Badgers’ under it.

Deer, cattle, horses and even men opening umbrellas get their own little picture on road signs. There is obviously a growing badger problem, as evidenced by all these warning signs. Maybe its time for a new road sign with a picture of a badger on it.

I could run a whimsical competition for the best design for a badger road sign, but I know it would be ignored. Jayne tells me that I must, under no circumstances, embarrass her by starting up a petition on the No. 10 web site. I should have just done it without mentioning it first

I was also fascinated by roadside adverts for a garlic festival which was described as “the Island’s largest garlic festival” – how many garlic festivals does one small island have anyway?

But despite all that, this was my favourite sign. I could not stop myself humming badgerbadgerbadger for the next few miles.