We had a family celebration at the weekend, and all converged on Bourton-on-the-Water to eat, drink, go for walks and spend some time together. We chose Bourton mainly because it was the nicest place to spend a weekend that was roughly equidistant between all of our home towns. And it is lovely — if somewhat 'chocolate-boxy' — but the main street is fearsomely busy on sunny weekends.

If you walk away from the main street (and we did that as much as possible), you can find peace and quiet, but the centre of the village was packed with people strolling about, paddling in the river and eating ice cream. We were having a coffee on the terrace of our hotel and witnessed the surreal sight of at least 30 mini motorbikes roaring up to the green. They all seemed to be scale models of particular bikes, but were ridden by full-sized men (with their knees up under their chins), and were as noisy as ordinary bikes. After a number had parked up, a police woman came over to them and evidently asked them to move on. There wasn't any argument, and they all rode off again like a tiny, well-behaved pack of bonsai Hell's Angels.

I'm left wondering why anyone would buy a tiny motorbike. I'm sure that you can probably fit one in the back of a car to transport it, but it must be uncomfortable, and — to be honest — it makes you look like a bit of a wally.