Obiter was tantalised by the arrival of a message entitled ‘solicitor does a runner’. The email contained a link to the news that Geoff Gafford, from Chipping Norton firm Dyakowski Gafford, is legging it up north. Not with the contents of the firm’s piggy bank, we hasten to add, but on a sponsored trek from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Gafford is walking a 1,075-mile scenic route to raise £2,000 for the MS Research and Relief Fund. When Obiter enquired how he was able to take 10 weeks off work, we were unsurprised to learn that Gafford specialises in conveyancing. ‘I’ve got my work done, but we’re not desperately busy at the moment,’ he admitted. As he makes the most of the economic downturn, he assured Obiter he won’t be lonely, since he will be striding out to the sounds of The Grateful Dead and Emmylou Harris on his iPod. We wish him well and hope he returns before the housing market picks up (which we suspect he will).