Ever since Alan and I, with various friends, made our first journey down the Thames in a punt, we have amused ourselves by awarding marks out of five to the various pub toilets visited en route. Arguing about the basis on which such marks are to be awarded also affords some interest to otherwise uneventful phases of the journey.

During the current holiday there was considerable discussion -- not to say argument -- along these lines. Penny was keen that it should be on as objective a basis as possible, so that the possession of a given range of facilities would virtually guarantee a 3. I took the opposite view, feeling that the scale should have a larger subjective element allowed for -- although one should always be able to give reasons for awarding a given mark.