Diary of an MW student – part 34

Never before has a bootcamp had such soft furnishings.

Last month’s seminar for MW candidates who are resitting the practical exam was held at the Odney Club in Cookham (as photographed by me on our first snowy morning there). This is a discreet country retreat run by the John Lewis Partnership for its employees, consisting of a clubhouse with a quiet bar and comfortable lounges surrounded by idyllic gardens in which several large old houses nestle together, internally converted into en-suite hotel-style accommodation. It is the epitome of bourgeois bliss.

John Lewis, for those unfamiliar with the name, is a...