I have to confess that I’m not a diet soft drink fan. I know it’s often said that the higher sugar drinks are bad for me but the diet or low sugar varieties just seem to be lacking somewhat – I don’t know whether it’s the flavour, the lack of sugar rush or something else, but they definitely don’t hit the spot as far as I’m concerned.

I think most of us are aware April 2012 marked the centenary of the fateful night when the RMS Titanic sank. We know the story – this was a huge cruise ship which was professed to be unsinkable. It was, at the time, an extraordinary achievement – a modern, well fitted out ship which was designed to provided accommodation for a diverse range of passengers from the rich and famous, through the middle classes, to the lowly workers and their families who had saved avidly for months from their meagre income in order to travel to pastures new lookng for a better quality of life.

While trying to come up with an idea of something interesting to write about I decided to leave the confines of my office to go downstairs and grab myself a cup of tea and a biscuit to get the literary juices flowing.