It was indeed a lovely feeling. I knew the wind was causing me problems, but I hadn't realised just how much of a difference it was making until I turned round and suddenly found that it was my friend. I was 20 minutes quicker on the way back, despite stopping for lunch. Normally I'm slower on the back home because weariness is kicking in.

All the spaniels were indeed having a whale of a time. If being a whale involves wallowing in muddy puddles and chasing rooks, at any rate.