During last year, our Olympic Year, someone had the great idea of putting several pianos around St Pancras Station for any passer by to play, and I’m pleased to say that they’re still there.

They’re a bit honky tonk, but I think that’s probably what you would expect for some pianos that have been left in a busy station for anyone from drunks to virtuosos to play. It’s not exactly the place for a Steinway! They repaint them every now and then and replace the stools when they disappear, but it’s good to see that generally people treat them with respect.

I’ve heard some lovely playing when rushing by to catch the train home, as well as some that’s not quite so lovely! But hats off to anyone who’s happy to tickle or thump the ivories while busy travellers rush round them.

Maybe some are show-offs and exhibitionists, although from the people I’ve watched, I don’t think many are. I think they’re more likely to be people who simply want to stop and grab what was probably a rather unexpected chance to press the pause button on our stupidly-hectic lives and de-stress with a bit if Chopin or Keane.

And that gives the rest of us a chance to stop too. Or it would except that trains, like time and tide, wait for no man, not even the one who wants to stay to hear the end of Rachmaninov’s 3rd.