One of the advantages of living here is how close we are to the coast: about twenty to thirty miles away, near enough for a trip to the seaside to be a regular summer day out, yet far enough away for us not to be inundated with tourists during the high season.

Two of the more resilient individuals to ply their trade by the sea are Mr and Mrs Crane. Let us suppose you go to see them. They work in a wooden shack on a rocky outcrop, from where one can hear the waves lapping the shore. The shack is forlorn, isolated, dilapidated and inhospitable. As you approach, you realise it is equipped with neither electricity nor central heating; its owners, you assume, use a camping stove or something similar for cooking and candles for light. It stretches belief that anyone can call this home. The residents would probably be better off begging on the streets.

But call this home they do, this Mr and Mrs Crane, and it is where they make their living. To the left of the doorway is a hand-painted sign telling you how: sea kayaks are built and sold here; you may enquire within about the wide range available for immediate purchase.

This, then, is the Cranes’ forte: the construction of watercraft. You knew this before you read the board; it is why you are here. It is not a place one would visit without a reason. You were lured by the Cranes’ advertisement in last Friday’s ‘Fun in the Sun’ pullout section of The Gatshire Gazette. Without the directions given it would have been hard to find the shop, but here you are now. You walk up to the entrance hesitantly, because, who knows, the artisan might be working and he would doubtless detest being disturbed. It would be unfortunate were he to expel you before you had even begun your business.