Gym Slips (6)

The "Summer Brides" season is just about over at the gym. This is the time when a number of new lady members suddenly arrive on the scene and spend weeks in earnest and persistent exercise, as they tone their figures for their forthcoming weddings.

In some cases they hire the services of a fitness instructor. As these charge about £30 per hour, it gives you some idea how seriously the pursuit of a better shape is taken. As a result of these endeavours, most brides-to-be look far better than when they arrived and in a few cases they appear unrecognisably different.

Then they disappear, presumably to get married and live happily ever after. But just occasionally they reappear. Typically a couple of years will have gone by and a baby has been produced and nurtured. Now the battle begins again. It is hard work to get your figure back when you are an "Autumn Mum." I admire their tenacity.