Sex in the Cotswolds: is it qualitatively better than sex in less desirable postcodes?

EVERYBODY, meaning residents of north London and residents of the Cotswolds, is obsessed with sex in the Cotswolds. But can it also be pleasurable in poorer areas? 

Cotswolds: missionary

We begin research with straight missionary sex in a cottage built of honey-coloured stone in a village with a dedicated jam shop, rumoured once to have been visited by Kate Moss. As you’d expect from such surroundings simultaneous orgasm was reached in six minutes, by which time house prices had risen by £1.22.

Pembrokeshire: knee-trembler

Keeping latitude low, we headed to Tenby where I gave my co-researcher one up against an 18th-century wall within sight of the lifeboat house that was once on Grand Designs. I climaxed, she didn’t, but we both agreed it was a delightful experience aside from the circling gulls.

Leicestershire: cowgirl

Venturing up the country to squalid locations that still dabble in manufacturing, she rides me in a ring-road Travelodge while I try not to be put off by the memory of the receptionists’ accent. While she manages to get there – a tribute to her indefatigability – it’s a desultory orgasm for me as I wonder why this city exists.

The Yorkshire Dales: reverse cowgirl

The howling wind outside, the relentless grimness of life for these people, and six pints of bitter mean I am unable to maintain an erection. While we are in a cottage, it is not thatched and the sky outside is low. No wonder Heathcliff and Cathy never got it on. Honestly it’s like a rubber snake.

The Cairngorms: 69

Our croft is freezing cold, undoubtedly haunted, and around it for miles no tree grows. And, like that arboreal desert, no matter how much my partner works away she is unable to coax a twitch out of it. Is it any wonder, when the nearest Soho House is 310 miles away? How can any erotic imagination sustain itself in these conditions? Also we’re both in full Gore-Tex.

Conclusion: sex is better in the Cotswolds, between consenting southerners each of whom has a solid property portfolio. It just is.

Movies, and other things that can only be enjoyed after extensive online research

THANKS to the internet, life’s pleasures can only be relished after hours of punishing online research. Do the work before these: 

Watching a film

Your time is precious. You need to know before watching any film that it will meet your standards so you’re obligated to trawl through Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and Reddit forums to find a review that matches up with your unfounded preconceptions. Then watch half of it before turning it off because it’s midnight and you’ve got work tomorrow.

Dining out

Every stage of the restaurant process should involves as much research as a PhD. First scour the menu, cross-referencing with Instagram, then do a deep dive into the wine list and dissect the desserts. Even afterwards you’ll be looking up whether the shrimp ceviche was supposed to taste like that. If you spend all night vomiting, the answer is no.

Potential romantic partners

Nobody just rocks up to a first date after sending a few flirtatious messages. On what basis, ‘fancying someone’? Grow up. Cambridge Analytica levels of online data gathering are necessary. Use fake profiles and friends to gather evidence. Then pretend you don’t know any of it on the date itself or you’ll look like a stalker.

Reading a book

Finishing a novel should be a satisfying, solitary experience. Read that last sentence, set the book down and let the author’s carefully-crafted prose marinate in your mind. Instead you’re on Reddit within seconds to see who else found the dream sequence in chapter seven stupid and what the symbolism of the frozen duck pond was.

Going on holiday

Compare flights. Compare destinations. Compare hotels. Spend hours hunched over a laptop being pissed about by algorithms that raise the price the second you’re ready to book. Then when you eventually get there, carry on obsessively comparing the holiday you’re on to all the ones you could have taken until it’s ruined.