The hotel receptionist is trying to frighten the living daylights out of me by recounting the story of a ghost called George who delights in playing tricks on staff and residents ...

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Ordinarily I would find this riveting, but at the moment I’m more interested in a boundary stone that is supposedly located near the hotel. This stone, which is well over a metre high, is mentioned in Graham Phillips’ book, the Marian Conspiracy as being inscribed with the name Paulinus who was appointed the island’s chief savour of souls and spent much time and effort converting the heathen hordes to Christianity.

Stopped in mid flow, the receptionist suddenly loses interest and says as the hotel stands in twenty acres of parkland, she hasn’t a clue where it is! This doesn’t really surprise me as in my experience “locals” can give you all the expert information you want on a mythological street in cockney London, but ask them to go back more than a few years in their own locality and you’re likely to be met with blank stares. Sad, innit?