You’re what – 30? and I’m 48 – I suppose I was about 7 when I read the books (there was more than one – am I right?) and I knew straight away that they were superior to The Secret Seven and the Famous Five (both of which I used to read in reverse chapter order, being a weird kid…). I’ve not read Swallows and Amazons since – I have a vague recollection of them, but when it came to me passing on my favourites to my children, Arthur Ransome did not get a look in. I wonder why that was…..?

Tell me why we should read them> I have vague remembrances of independent children who went off and did their own thing without annoying grown-ups – my brother aged 11 went camping with 2 friends and toured around Northern Ireland (living off packet soup and Smash) – I can’t imagine any responsible parent allowing that nowadays.