Christ Church Meadow, Oxford

There I was sitting on the banks of the Cherwell in Christ Church Meadow.

Near me were a couple who appeared to be living out of carrier bags. She was feeding the wildfowl on the river - ducks, geese and a lone swan that tried hard to imply it was above such things - and he had the inevitable dog on a length of string. Impressively, when it threatened to become too interested in the crowd of birds that had gathered, he spoke to it firmly and it settled down again.

And she was impressive too for her confidence and for making sure that the bread was fairly shared. When one of the geese sneaked up behind her to take a piece from her hand, I swear that she smacked its bottom.