Today I discovered an entirely new sensation. Soft and clammy overall but quite sharp in points around the edges, the feeling was confined to my head and was only fleeting, lasting maybe a second, followed by a sudden down-draft of air. Despite, or perhaps because of its briefness I was completely startled, unable to make sense of what I’d felt until it had passed and the cause had more or less disappeared. I don’t think I’ve ever known anything like it.

If you want to experience something similar, I would first recommend shaving your head to guarantee contact unadulterated by any intervening hair, and then walk along the seafront eating a prawn sandwich in a heavily seagull-populated area of the coast.