I first made the acquaintance of Hodge, the resident feline of Southwark Cathedral, on a sweltering London afternoon last month. My sated family and I had just staggered out of Mallow, a Bankside vegan gem, when we found ourselves drawn to the city's oldest Gothic house of prayer.
We made our way through the former Augustinian priory and found ourselves facing the retrochoir, which comprised four pretty chapels. Next to it, Hodge had taken refuge in an alcove and was reclining languidly. He flexed his left paw several times, encouraging me, or so I thought, to take cognisance of the notice board next to him, soliciting something or other on behalf of the cathedral-affiliated school of St Saviour and St Mary Overie.
