Why can’t I just buy a boardgame?

The little toy shop stood at the highest point of a steep winding lane of shops all painted different colours, near the harbour.

So quaint, so beguiling and magical was this place, it was like walking into your childhood memory box. On the shelves of games on the back wall I found KerPlunk, Connect 4, Buckaroo, Guess Who, and all the old favourites.

I needed some board games because a friend was coming to stay with his four children and we would need to while away the long West Cork evenings which would probably be rainy and windy. We are usually happy doing nothing in front of an open fire but I assumed that kids would not be so sanguine.

I wandered along the shelves spellbound. As well as games, there were brightly coloured jigsaws and boxes of Lego and Barbie merchandise stacked floor to ceiling.