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For the original pics and for field-testing the idea thanks to MacJames

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Sometimes we go away for a long weekend and I'm allowed to take my Inverness.

I love going, but I always panic when we set off! We go by train and you feel so 'out on a limb' : the longer the journey, the further away you are from anything like a proper weekend suitcase!

I'm allowed my boots, it's true, and as many necksquares as I like! But what if the sun comes out? - it does sometimes you know, even in Scotland! I've had that many a time, and you feel such a figure of fun when everyone else gets into shorts or whatever.

It would feel much less edgy of course if you were allowed just to take more things - even if you knew you would never get permission to actually wear any of them. Having them there in a suitcase would give you some sense of security. But no, the inviolable rule is: no suitcase, and just the Inverness and the boots and a necksquare between you and Scotland.

 

 

Even so, I have to confess, whatever the weather, the worst thing is always the train journey back.

With every mile Richard Branson pulls me further back from the edge, back towards the easy-care polycotton of normality. I sit in my Inverness, my skin athrill with excitement and try and settle in my memory that vulnerable intimate envelopment to which I have once more become hopelessly addicted.