It was with some misgivings that I agreed to look after my young nephew while his parents were away for two months one summer. I’ve never been that fond of kids – certainly not enough to want any of my own – and wondered how on earth I could entertain a 15-year-old whose main and perhaps only interest seemed to be football. He wasn’t a bad kid, though: not rebellious and with no repellent personal hygiene habits that I knew of. In the event he struck up with some of the village kids and they spent
