It’s a great feeling when you can wake up in the morning and say you’ve had a fun time on a school night (yes that’s a mid-week outing)!

It was for good reason mind as I was invited to attend the International Youth Arts Festival’s Royal Gala performance ‘Of Dragons and Dinosaurs’ at The Rose Theatre attended by HRH Prince Edward.

Obviously there was a vested interest as Michael was narrator for the performance, but despite that, it was a fantastic evening.

Children from across the borough participated and the standard was high as they told the story of a diplodocus concealed in the cliffs of a small seaside town for 65 million years.

It was funny, poignant and charming. Congrats to all involved. If you get chance, try and catch some of the last remaining shows at the festival – we have some talented young people out there who need support.

Speaking of fun places to visit locally, the other week we were invited by our children’s godparents to The Thames Ditton Miniature Railway.

We had no idea what to expect but once there were totally in awe of all the miniature steam trains we could ride on. The railway and trains are operated by unpaid volunteers and members covering all aspects of model engineering.

The children thoroughly enjoyed it especially my son who is obsessed with trains and cars.

Plus I have to say, there’s something endearing about seeing life ‘small scale’!

After an ice cream and an afternoon of whistle blowing, we headed home thoroughly pleased with ourselves for finding another hidden local treasure.

Apart from that, I had a serious weekend of cycling over in France, which was one of the hardest days of my life.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you if I succeeded or not as no one likes a spoiler, but what I can tell you is that I’m going to keep cycling and have signed up to ride from Manchester to London later in the year. Glutton for punishment!