I'VE had my first trip back to the capital since the paralympics and yet again I was proud to be British.

This time it was nothing related to sport, it was the start of London Fashion week. There were some fine displays from British designers giving a flavour of what there is to look forward to for spring/summer 2013.

Dressing for a fashion event always involves several outfit changes and I eventually settled on a neutral coloured combination. To my relief it must have been slightly appropriate as I did receive one or two compliments and the usual question of 'Who is that (designed) by?' so you can imagine the delight I took in admitting my skirt, shirt and jewellery were all from local charity shops.

After our super summer of sport it was rumoured that as a nation we might experience a post Olympic and Paralympic hangover.

As the firework display lit up the sky over East London in the final closing ceremony I certainly thought that was the end of GB's record breaking season of sport. How wrong I was, only one day later we had a British winner of the US Open when Andy Murray claimed his first tennis grand slam title.

I really thought that was it, but then the Tour of Britain began. It might have seemed just another bike race but as it neared the Westcountry the interest was building and so were the crowds.

I only just made it home in time battling through the hoards of cars, pedestrians and bicycles, I have never seen anything like it on Dartmoor and I too wasn't going to miss the opportunity to watch this bike race literally pass our back door.