Skills, eh? Where would we be without them? When I look back to the time when I was eight, I'm horrified at the sheer narrowness of my range of talents. No wonder I was morose when not only was I not able to make a mushroom risotto, I wouldn't even have been able to tell you what a risotto was (though I was aware of mushrooms, which I knew came from Croydon).

It's reassuring, then, to discover that ...