On festival days, the streets surrounding Heeley City Farm are usually crammed bumper to bumper with parked cars. But not today.

I tell Sarah it's because of the rain which is bounding off the windscreen like a hailstorm of ping-pong balls. "Some of the activities might have been cancelled, are you sure you still want to go?"

Of course she does. Ever since she saw the flyer I picked up in the reception at school Sarah has not stopped asking if she could get her hair braided. Personally I was looking forward to picking up a pretty wreath for the front door and some Christmas crafts to adorn our seemingly virginal tree. So hurriedly we packed Cassius into his pram and bolted across to the main centre, seeking shelter under a thatched roof where the tombola and a woodcraft stall had set up their wares.