I heard last night that much of the Durbar square in Patan had been smashed in the appalling earthquake that hit Nepal recently. Anyone who has been to this extraordinary land-locked country will have been impressed by its beauty, the generosity of the people and the dire poverty.

Let us hope that the many international tourists and world heritage organisations will dig deep to restore as much as possible of this amazing place. Here is just one photograph of a typical family who are bound to have been affected.