Well, here we are in the so-called ‘Silly Season’, beloved of the Great British media. Parliament is in recess and without the ruminations (and self-digestions) of our political class, we are all supposed to lose interest in politics. Instead, BBC news runs items on surfing dogs in California, Mel B has a haircut and Celebrity Big Brother is cranked out to distract us from the world’s problems like a modern version of bread and circuses keeping the plebs quiet.

Still, it was ever thus. But as Theresa May takes a four week hiking holiday, lesser minds find space to think a few little thoughts of their own. It’s strange what fanciful notions occur when sipping a glass of red on a warm evening, bats and swifts flitting overhead.

So here are two silly season ideas to make York a better place.

The first may not be so silly at all. Many York citizens will have visited European cities in the course of their summer get-away where a strange beast, long hunted to extinction in most of mainland Britain, can be seen wandering freely and even improving the environment. No, I am not referring to beavers (for that, see later) but the common tram.

Of course, electric trams were once a flourishing species in the UK. In York itself they had well-established migration routes right round the city between 1910 and 1935, when competition from the combustion engine squeezed them out.

York Press:

An early electric tram beside the bar walls in York

But times change. In a world desperate to halt global warming and improve air quality – unless you are Donald Trump – maybe the hour of re-introducing the tram has arrived. Indeed, back in 2014, a plan drawn up by a former councillor, Christian Vassie, costed new routes for electric trams that would revolutionise public transport in York.

His vision is a compelling one and was reported on in detail at the time by The Press (Back to the future with the tram in York, August 27, 2014).

Mr Vassie partly based his ideas for the re-introduction of trams to the historic city of Dijon, where research showed a big improvement in congestion, noise and air pollution. In short, a clear boon to ordinary citizens’ lives. True, there was much opposition at first, particularly when the cost was totted up, but the Dijon experiment confirmed trams were a species more than worthy of restoration.

Sipping my red wine in the back garden, I could just imagine it happening in York. Of course, it would involve an abandonment of the scorched earth policy known as austerity and low taxation for the wealthy that has killed off so many public services since 2010.

But it’s the silly season, why shouldn’t I dream?

Which leads me to my next fanciful notion. Is it just me who would like to see a reckless experiment take place north of the city? No less than the re-introduction of another animal extinct in Yorkshire for far too long. I refer to Castor fiber, better known as the Eurasian beaver.

Now hang on, you might say, what about the farmers? My reply would be a single word: floods.

It is scientifically proven that beavers significantly reduce the risk of flooding by creating natural water reservoirs.

York Press:

Bring back the beaver, says Tim Muratroyd: they're not just cute but great at natural flood control too

A new study by scientists in Scotland found that a mere four re-introduced beavers created almost 200m of dams, 500m of canals and an acre of ponds over a ten year period.

Their busy labours also revive wetland habitats and fish stocks where numerous native creatures thrive. In addition, beavers re-introduced to Devon have proved a magnet for nature-loving tourists.

Besides which, they’re very, very cute. My personal location for the return of the beaver to York would be Clifton Ings.

So as I drain my glass I have visions of a shiny electric tram silently rolling past a restored wetland where happy beavers and their kits gnaw, gazed upon with wonder and adoration by hordes of eco-tourists. A situation where everyone, not least the environment, is a winner.

Alas, Theresa May will be back from her extended holiday all too soon. Then our normal level of political service will resume . . .

Bottoms up!