A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away.
- Phyllis McGinley

I found a hobby, I found a hobby. Out in the lobby. I went insane.
- 'I Found a Hobby', Little Shop of Horrors

Us Brits have always been thought of as a nation of hobbyists. It could be standing on a wet railway station platform at six in the morning, soggy notebook in one hand, soggy breakfast bap in the other, holding out for the latest Class 390 Virgin Pendolino train. Or there's the person anxiously waiting for the postman to bring them that rare, only 300,000 in circulation, bone china Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall commemorative egg cup. Whatever the obsession, nothing fires the British soul like a well-kept collection.

But is this still the case? Are there just as many obsessives out there, plugging away at their private collections and filling in their notebooks, as there always were? We want to know.

• What's your hobby? Is it something you do within the confines of your own home – possibly to the chagrin of your loved ones – or something you do with like-minded others?

• We all know about trainspotters and stamp collectors, but do you collect something that you're sure is completely peculiar to you? Hotel stationary, airline sickbags, bus tickets – we want to know about your weird collections.

• Is having a hobby the key to keeping your mind healthy and active? But where do hobbies end and obsessions begin?

• Are hobbies strictly the domain of men? Are women too busy managing the hours they have in a working week to fritter away their leisure time on frivolous pursuits?

Let us know – we'd like to collect your answers, label them neatly and put them in the correct category.