* Megafauna were a perpetual nuisance, but no one ever seriously considered them as anything but residents of northern Europe, same as us. Besides, pizza wouldn’t be the same without Rhinozella cheese, and the Autumn mammoth cull generated much-needed food.

* About 2,500 Newtons from a range of six feet, but reducing in power with distance by the inverse square law.

* The first pulse grenade to pack over a megaNewton, they said, but the factory never published specs.

* Not to be confused with Spring pantry, which is what everyone eats until the growing season begins.

* It was due to low white cell count, part of the blood-thinning physiology peculiar to hibernation. I didn’t know that at the time.

* Flopshop, Kipshop, Sleepshack, Slumberhouse – all slang for the venerable Dormitoria.

* Fourteen degrees Celsius.

* An emergency reactor core shutdown procedure, to prevent a potentially dangerous overheat, fire and explosion.

* Not unusual; prepared last words, usually. Sometimes a will, sometimes a poem, a confession, an insult – sometimes even blank.

* In the Winter, I mean. In the Summer, it’s gorgeous. Hiking, swimming, cycling, good food – and friendly people.

* ‘Gorge and hope’, as it was known.

* Cash is fairly worthless in the Winter, so bondsmen advance loans and negotiate debts and credits, all for a fee.

* By legal mandate direct from the Ministry of Sleep.

* False dawn: waking earlier than usual, generally due to increased warmth. Waking a sleeper can be achieved quite easily by warming them, although it can take four to five days. Ten ccs of Kenorbarbydol works faster – but with far greater risk.

* The fire valleys, owing to a legal quirk, were not subject to gambling laws twenty days either side of the Winter.

* Seasoned practitioners of pulse weapons used two in unison to more accurately and dangerously focus the vortex rings. In the hands of the unskilled, however, death and serious injury were never far away.

* Sister Contractia lived in the shed where the motor-mower belonged, and kept herself to herself. The policy of Socialised Childcare does not automatically attract those who like children.

* Track 1, Side 2, The Sound of Music film soundtrack LP.

* Original Broadway cast recording, obviously. Ichabod’s wife and daughter had been big fans.

* It was the first time I’d been given the honorific ‘Deputy’ rather than ‘Novice’. I still wasn’t sure about it.

* ‘Womads’ or ‘Winter nomads’ often left their children out in the Winter to separate the weak from the strong.

* Despite the universal adoption of surnames, the Welsh royal family still use the matronymic system. The Crown Princess is always Gwendolyn, which makes naming every ruler since 1183 really easy.

* An overhead-gantry propeller-driven monorail that can sail above the drifts. Covers only major routes during the Winter.

* 55db: normal speaking level.

* 62db: restaurant conversation.

* 75db: vacuum cleaner in front room on ‘full’.

* Who was surprisingly good, as it turned out, if a little oversensitive.