TO QUOTE Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow... winter is coming.

Judging by the freezing weather on Wednesday, it might as well be here already. I was expecting an Indian summer, not a Siberian autumn.

So where better to head to than sunny Worthing, supposedly the town with the second-best weather in the country.

And yes, I know it seems out of character for me to settle for second-best.

Second-worst is more my kind of thing. It is how Mrs PubSpy chose me, after all.

Bracing the chilly weather, we trudged through the town centre and sought refuge in The Cow and Oak, a snazzy-looking pub near the seafront.

As we stepped through the door and removed eight layers of clothing, we could not help but notice how homely everything felt.

Packed with comfy wood furnishings and speakers playing a nice selection of alternative hits, I felt oddly relaxed.

The place certainly was not humming, but I am sure it would be great fun on a Friday.

Sadly, I will never know.

My schedule is always packed on Fridays thanks to Top of the Pops reruns on BBC Four.

Shaking out of my stream of consciousness, I made a beeline for the bar and ordered two pints of Amstel.

Sadly after forking out £9 for them I realised Mrs PubSpy would probably want something too.

But feeling somewhat generous, I decided to let her have one.

As a dramatic pub quiz was in full swing, we decided to retreat to the noticeably less tense front garden.

Armed with our beer jackets, we plonked ourselves outside and did our best to stave off the cold.

An evening of people watching is not easy in Worthing. It is hardly Venice.

But we saw a couple of interesting specimens, not least when three teenagers sped past, all sitting on the same mountain bike.

In many ways, this beer garden was my meditation space. It had good feng shui.

My half-frozen pint was placed perfectly in front of me while a nearby speaker played the Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls”, in many ways my own Buddhist chant.

But the rush of cars past me broke my meditation, so we decided to head back inside before our knees froze into place.

We went for that classic Russian remedy... a vodka and coke fit for Dostoevsky.

And at just over £7 it was even cheaper than the beers.

We sat ourselves in the corner and earwigged the pub quiz, which seemed more competitive by the minute.

It seemed they were on a Beatles round.

I am not sure if the band has any connection to Worthing, though it is quite possible Ringo could have insulted it at one point.

After every question there was a hushed silence.

“What was the Beatles’ first single?” You could cut the air with a knife.

We were certainly glad we were not participating. Most times for me pub quizzes end in a punch up over chart-topping Seventies singles.

Guzzling our drinks in anticipation, the quizmaster revealed “I’m wearing dirty pants” as the winner.

Whether this was a sincere confession on the quizmaster’s behalf remains to be seen.

Suddenly feeling paranoid about my clothing, I rushed to the toilets.

Modern and stylish, they certainly did the job.

But I was somewhat concerned about the beer kegs fashioned into urinals. Let us hope the staff do not get them mixed up with the stuff on tap.

Then again, I suppose anyone drinking Red Stripe would not notice.

Exhausted from an evening of earwigging, we swiftly departed into the cold night.