At Westminster and in the national media, all the talk is of the prospects for Brexit. Each “historic vote” in the House of Commons, each phase of discussion with Brussels, and each strand in the complex fabric of Brexit politics is analysed and dramatised.

For those of us who are condemned to live much of our waking lives at present in this particular hothouse atmosphere, there is a severe danger of getting things significantly out of proportion. It can come to seem as if there is little going on in the world (or at least in Britain) other than the latest twist or turn in this remarkable saga.

But of course the reality is that life goes on much as normal outside Westminster. Our future is being formed as much by the quiet actions of those who are laying the cultural and aesthetic foundations for the coming generations as it is by those of us involved in finding a sensible way to leave the EU.

These quiet efforts to build for the future are all too often hidden in plain sight. The information is there but it goes largely unremarked.

A case in point is the complete renovation of the fine old museum in Dorchester.

Because the museum is closed until 2020 for these works to be carried out, this very substantial project has attracted little attention. But it will change the whole nature of the museum, and give it at least another century as a thriving centre of both natural and human history - linking Dorchester with its past, and enabling all those who come to our County town to have access to many of the finest exhibitions mounted by Britain’s astonishing national museums and galleries, which are the equal of anything in the world.

It was therefore with great delight that I saw recently the award of another notable sum of money from the Wolfson fund to help complete this splendid project; a timely reminder of the multitude of patient and constructive contributions that are being made from day to day many miles away from Westminster.