I had an email from an old school friend about meeting up before Xmas in Wells in Somerset where we grew up - I haven't been there to go drinking etc since 1997 and I really have a pang of 'back in the day' feel to go back, like a returning hero resplendent in fine furs and gold chains, with tales of the big city and nothing but experience etched onto my ever smugging face.

Should I go or does the fear in the belly that says all the beer monsters who used to attack me and my fey mates for being 'dirty gayer arsebandits' (even though we were with our girlfriends at the time), say "no!, you'll get hassle in the kebab shop if someone recognises you!"

Does it help sometimes to just let the past go and just have a nice jolly with long lost friends who work in cruddy local jobs?