PHEW! So that’s it, then. Last year’s long Summer Recess (it’s about a month) seems like a century ago.

Since then we’ve had Mrs May crowned as leader and PM, at least two reshuffles that I can think of; the triggering of Article 50 after a mild Parliamentary/legalistic battle to allow it, and the start of the Brexit negotiations. We’ve had a General Election which started with the promise of a massive Conservative majority, and ended with a hung Parliament, at least partly as a result of a shockingly bad manifesto, and a poor campaign.

We’ve had Jeremy Corbyn go from least liked pariah of the Labour Party to something of a national hero, cheered to the rafters at Glastonbury; (Mrs May’s decline in the ratings has been almost as dramatic); the SNP are on the wane, with the Tories stronger in Scotland than they have been for 30 years.

The Liberal Democrat terminal decline was reconfirmed by the end of their leader and the appointment of septuagenarian sourpuss, Vince Cable; we’ve had ongoing warfare in the Middle East and the terrible tragedies of terrorist attacks at Westminster and London Bridge and in Manchester; and then we had the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.

So by the time you read this, Parliament will have risen for the Recess; MPs struggling home for a rest; leadership squabbling put on hold; Cornwall and Tuscany beckoning wearied tribunes of the people.

For me, I can think of nowhere better than Wiltshire for a rest, although I ought to relieve Philippa of cooking from time to time.

So we’re off for a battlefield tour of Monte Cassino with Colonel Bob Stewart; we’ve got a long weekend in Yorkshire, a few days in Menorca with a friend, and by September I am leading a little expedition to Spitzbergen with 10 or so MPs and peers to visit the British Antarctic Survey who have the most northerly of all inhabited settlements on the globe. Brrr…

I like nothing better than constituency events like the brilliant concert of the Scots Guards band in Chippenham’s Neeld Hall last Thursday, or the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford (the end of the runway is in North Wiltshire!) on Friday.

But we MPs need a bit of time off, and our constituents deserve a bit of time off from us; and a bit of a rest from the political turbulence and excitement of the last 12 months.

So let’s have a nice quiet summer when we can all nurse our wounds, unwind, clear our heads, and generally relax and recover and prepare ourselves for the year that lies ahead.

I won’t miss out on my columns, but I hope that instead of politics, plots and parliamentary performances, they will be describing sun, sand and sangria. And with the school holidays arriving at last, I hope that you all too can look forward to a restful summer holiday.