Tom Wiggins, Letter Carver & Writer

The Savile Row tailors knew it,  the Martini drinkers knew it,  the Aston Martin Owners Club knew it,  MI5 secretly knew it,  Her Majesty knew it,  her corgis, cocking their heads, knew it,  He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named knew it,  the femme fatales knew it,  001, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 knew it,  Q knew it,  M knew,  even J and K from Men in Black knew it,  Ian Fleming most certainly knew it,  Sir Connery and Sir Moore knew it,  in fact, every incarnation knew it,    heck, even David Niven knew it,  while all those who had every crossed him knew it, and all the women who had ever loved him knew it.

What more can you say about a year that will be remembered so fondly through red, white and blue?  The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 was the double bill that the British people needed: the veritable chap stick that softened the stiffened upper lips of a Britain in recession.  Even those who would otherwise have complained about buying Union Jack bunting would have had to acknowledge its timeliness.  Has there been another period in British history in which we could use such a patriotic street lining, not once, but twice, and within two months of each another?  To line the streets would be to give back to the people what the rioters of 2011 took away.  We came together to restore the image of a truly  Great  Britain.   So how do you sum up a year so steeped in glory?  Its pinnacle was arguably 4th August 2012 – the aptly-named "Super Saturday".  It was Britain’s most successful day in the Olympics for more than a century a...