I can’t believe that it’s the start of another new touring season already, and we’re looking forward to all the delights that the coming months will bring.

For my family, our 2016 caravan holidays went pretty well – and I hope it was the same for you. The lovely summer we had really was the icing on the cake.

Following the washout of summer 2015, I said to my wife that we would give the first part of the season a chance, but that if it looked as though gloomy weather was to prevail, I’d book us on a cheap getaway to a place with guaranteed sunshine.

I love this country and its idiosyncratic weather, with the hailstones in June and the tropical-beach heatwave in late October. But there are some times when you just want it to pull its finger out and deliver – and that’s in the summer-holiday period.

Just like the good old days

Maybe it’s just my rose-tinted spectacles but, overall, I have happy and sun-filled memories of the season from my childhood.

Long summers of building dens and playing outside from dawn ’til dusk. I’m not entirely sure whether it really was like that, but that’s how I remember it.

And I want my children to experience the same activities, so we will carry on spending our summers in the UK for as long as possible.

The sliding of the pound, post-Brexit, apparently had a very positive impact on overseas visitors to the UK, with record numbers being reported both in the cities and countryside.

It’s nice to think that those visitors will have gone away with the best-possible image of Britain.

I’m thinking of blue skies and cartoon-white clouds, of fields of freshly harvested wheat, of picture-postcard villages and sunny seaside towns, and of world-class gardens and stately homes. Not of grey skies and groups of bedraggled fellow visitors in Pac A Macs.

And, of course, the real joy for me – and the family – was experiencing the delightful summer gone in the best possible way: from the comfort of our caravan.

There are no guarantees for what 2017 has in store but, being British, I’m sure that we’ll embrace whatever comes with our traditional cheerful resilience.

Visit Martin’s website for information about him, his books and his property training weekends, and follow his adventures on Twitter.