Well, it finally happened last night at about 19:15. Half the village lost power and we were told it would be 00:30 before it could be restored, overhead line down. They were actually early, it came back on at 00:27, so not bad!
Anyway I put the transfer switch over and started the genny. Was I smug? YES!!!!
Apart from a dull thudding sound in the background my evening carried on relatively as normal. Visited a few neighbours and boiled a few kettles.