Reiver does like to be beside the seaside, and rarely leaves home without his bucket and spade.

Yet he admits he didn’t like Allonby much on his first trip there.

It wasn’t the place’s fault. But it was very wet and windy.

It was the sort of day when windscreen wipers have to flap like great, trapped birds to clear the rain away, and the wind slams the car door shut the moment you get out of it. An umbrella would have been useless against it and he’d been much too vain to wear a raincoat.

He hadn’t been feeling 100 per cent that week and was in a bad mood about something, the nature of which he can’t now remember.

Everyone except him was wisely indoors and the only signs of life were creaking shop signs and gates rattling in the wind.

He didn’t want to be there and got the overall impression that Allonby didn’t want him there either.

But he caught it on a bad day and he’d been having a bad day himself, so man and village got off on the wrong foot. Reiver has long meant to go back, in better weather and better frame of mind, and give it another go.

If he’d been a Thomas Cook holidaymaker or employee he might be on his way there. In a remarkable act of kindness, Allonby hotelier and bar owner Peter Blake is inviting those affected by the firm’s collapse to enjoy a free break beside the sea.

In a post on facebook Mr Blake writes: “If you’ve lost your job at Thomas Cook and are feeling down or think you might have lost your hard-earned holiday, come to Costa del Allonby for a couple of nights free of charge and we will try and cheer you up.”

It should remind us all that you can have a really good holiday without having to travel overseas.

Recent news also includes a cheery report by some clever people that the prospect of a no-deal Brexit in a month’s time is pushing us into another recession. All the signs we saw in 2008 we’re seeing again.

Whether that comes true or not, it’s certainly the case that you don’t get many dollars or euros for your pound at the moment. And it would be unwise to hold your breath until the exchange rate improves.

So there’s never been a better time to rediscover the joys of our coastal resorts. What about staycations in the Costa del Silloth or Costa del St Bees?

We speak the local language and are familiar with the currency and cuisine.

And if you forget your toothbrush it’s easy to nip home for it.