June 19th – I met this skinny, lithe young cat in north Walsall, flaked out on the footpath in the late afternoon heat. Grubby, like he’d been sleeping and rolling in the dust all day, clearly a gentleman of leisure.

The curious position he was in I initially feared he might be hurt, but he was fine, and obligingly rolled over for a tummy tickle and game of chew the finger.

A charming soul and a true flaneur of the summer streets.