Lord Bonkers' Diary: The islanders of Rutland Water

And so our week at Bonkers Hall draws to a close with the old boy defending the tribes of the Upper Welland Valley against some shameful stereotyping.

Sunday

Guidebooks advise tourists to give the islands on Rutland Water a wide berth lest they be eaten. I am no keener on being boiled in a pot while a bouquet garni floats past my nose than the next man, or indeed woman, but I must say I have always found the inhabitants good fellows In Their Own Way.

Some authorities claim they are related to the primitive tribes of the Upper Welland Valley, but from my conversations with them on committee room practice and the LBW law, I would say their beliefs have more in common with those of the Church of Rutland.

Even so, I am concerned to hear over sherry after Divine Service at St Asquith’s that the Revd Hughes’s curate Farron is determined to go on a mission to these islands. The last thing we want at this time of year is to have to defend a by-election.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West, 1906-10.

Earlier this week...

• Remembering Sir Paddy Ashplant
• Curled up with the Wise Woman of Wing
• The Saucy Baroness Scott
• Delivering Focus by drone near Gatwick
• Nick Clegg's new job
• The Stilton Riots of 1819