We live on the edge of the fens in eastern England. The fens are a testament to the engineering skills of the 17th and 18th century Dutch who drained the flat, fertile land of sea water with a clever system of drainage channels and earthworks. Where my house would have once stood at the very edge of the sea, I now have to travel about 60 miles to the nearest beach.

These ‘drainage channels’ and ‘earthworks’ are, of course dykes – and yes, that IS how it is spelt. But sadly, the word is another that has been hijacked and can no longer be uttered on many American run forums.

We take our dogs walking along the dykes quite often but my wife can no longer say that on her greyhound forum. Instead she has to take the dogs walking along the local earthworks.