Where does the journey begin … probably in a youth hostel in north Wales; having dropped my daughter off at Barmouth to meet up with friends, leaving me free to indulge a long-held desire to visit Portmeirion, location for the 1960’s drama The Prisoner. I stayed at YHA Kings as a base, and on the second night, after my day at the Italianate village, was relaxing after dinner when a fellow resident (also alone having dropped off family in Barmouth) engaged in conversation. I was surprised to find we had a shared history in the construction industry and it all went from there so I enjoyed a pleasant evening’s conversation in good company. The following day I returned home, thinking no more about the few days away. About a week later I had an email from the hostel, inviting me to contact the fellow resident, he’d asked them to forward his email address to me. During our conversation we’d talked about many things, including music from out teenage years, and I’d mentioned the folk-rock group Lindisfarne (Fog on the Tyne was one of my favourites). I’d also mentioned an interest in visiting the island of the same name (proper name the Holy Island of Lindisfarne), a place of pilgrimage for many over the centuries, but more out of curiosity than anything else. His reply to me explained that he owned a cottage on the island which was no longer much used - and that I was welcome to go and use it!