Shelley the Lifeboat Labrador Read online

  I used to call on The Royal Veterinary College at Potters Bar about every two months. It was nice to have the college’s support as they could promote (if suitable) my company’s products to the new students. I recall making an appointment to see the Vice Principal Professor Clifford Formston. He came across as a very astute and abrupt person on our initial meeting. His office was as I expected full of boxes of slides stored all over the place with stacks of ‘Veterinary Record’ magazines and shelves full of anatomy books. I always wore a tweed type suit and tried to ask a lot of technical questions. I remember talking to him about one product and he replied by asking me an anatomy question which I got wrong. “My dear boy if you are going to sell products you should at least get the terminology right as to where this product is used. When you know this please make a fresh appointment and we will carry on this discussion.”

  I stayed away for several months and met up with him again later at the Veterinary Equine Conference in Southport. He came to our stand making for me and asked why I had not called back. I was honest and said that he did frighten me off a little. With that he asked me to follow him taking me to one of the book stands at the conference and purchased me a copy of ‘Blacks Veterinary Dictionary’. He there and then made another appointment for me to see him the following week at Potters Bar.

  Turning up at the college I was ushered into his office to be greeted by two of his senior colleagues alongside him. He then said, “I have spoken to your company and they have agreed that you can spend a week at the college to learn a little more about the field of veterinary medicine – this will commence next week and we have booked a hotel for you also. Today I have arranged for you to have a tour of the campus ready for next weeks visit.” I was stunned and delighted that such an important person had shown interest in my future.

  The following week was full of surprises – I saw surgery at the highest level – sat in on consultations (with the owner’s approval) – attended lectures and had private meetings with some of the senior staff and technicians. Clifford, as he then asked me to call him was always there and each day would have a meeting to discuss what I had learnt. He even asked me to his house to meet his wife and to have dinner with him. What had I done to deserve all this attention I asked myself?

  The week went by very quickly and at the end I was given a wonderful book on veterinary anatomy and a copy of Clifford’s Hobday Lecture paper signed by him. When we next met I asked him why I had warranted all this attention.

  He replied, “John when you first called to see me I liked your manners and the fact that you did admit to me that sometimes you were out of your depth with your subject matter. I did feel sorry for you and thought that perhaps I may be able to help out a little.” Adding, “I did like your personality – you made me laugh and I felt at ease with you.”

  We became very good friends meeting many times. He introduced me to many of his colleagues at other colleges and when I went to the USA and Canada to visit their veterinary establishments he made appointments for me to see some of the top people. I even recall at one centre in Guelph, Canada spending a morning in a department related to ‘fur bearing animals’ only to find out that they did surgery on Beavers and Bears.

  At many of the conferences I attended I always entertained Clifford and some of my other contacts to a slap up dinner. I invited Stan Cosgrove from Ireland who was the equine vet to the then Aga Kahn, Professor Geoff Arthur from Bristol Veterinary college alongside other surgeons from Newmarket and Cork in Ireland. They were always a fun evenings that when on well into the early hours. The company I worked for had a good accountant so I always got this vast expense bill passed, after all I did get excellent sales results.

  My overseas travels were extensive and I went to the States and Canada several times – Norway – Sweden – Germany – Holland and on a very regular basis Ireland. These trips involved a lot of hard work. Going to Southern Ireland was a real bonus and I made many friends there staying with some of the practice families. Stan Cosgrove was considered one of the top equine surgeons in the world and it was a real honour to work with him. I stayed with a David Coghlan in Buttervant near Cork many times and remain friends to this day with his son Michael who is now a veterinary surgeon near Southampton. I visited The Dublin Veterinary College and made good friends with a Professor Paddy McGeady who taught me the art of drinking Guinness properly whilst keeping a head on it.

  Ireland was a beautiful country and I used to go over for two weeks at a time by car taking my samples in the back of my Morris Thousand Traveller Estate.

  I recall when I was with David Coghlan that he suggested I saw practice with him one day. We got up at 6am and set off the first call doing a post mortem on a horse in a field which was followed by breakfast back at home then off on more calls.

  We met a friend of his in one village who had a pig in a trailer. As it was lunch time David suggested we go for a drink. The pig was left in the square and we all got into David’s car. He smoked Tom Thumb cigars by the dozen and there were empty tins all over the car mixed with used syringes and other un-wanted items. David was also a fast driver so it was a case of hanging on. The pub we stopped at was right out in no mans land and two hours later we returned to drop his friend off to collect his car and pig in trailer.

  When we got home that evening there was a message asking David to visit a client who bred donkeys. She was very wealthy indeed and on our arrival two of them had collapsed. Seeking a second opinion David contacted Stan Cosgrove who agreed to drive down to Cork. It was late so David put them on saline drips whilst we waited for Stan. He arrived about 11pm having popped into a local church on the way down (it was Sunday).

  On his arrival both discussed the related problems and treatment was duly given with the three of us staying up all night to monitor the situation which I am glad to say worked out as planned. We later popped into a local bar for a very early morning drink before Stan went back. The good part of that evening for me was that Stan had been thinking about purchasing several of our products and gave me a very big order whilst at the same time agreeing to write a paper on one of them which would help its sales a great deal. I call that a real dedication to duty!

  On reflection I do consider I was very lucky indeed to have that period in my life. Like my jazz period it gave me the opportunity to meet characters that were that bit different some of whom would remain good friends to this day.

  I look back now at television and see the repeats of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ which brings back memories of how it used to be. It was an era when there were a lot of changes in veterinary medicine with many new products and drugs being developed. I happened to be working for a company that had the sense to see the future in its products with an excellent research team. It is nice to also see these products still being used to-day which proves that all the efforts I put into selling them with the support of people like Clifford Formston paid off.

  During this period I did not have a dog. It was such a pity as Shelley would have enjoyed it a great deal. I am glad to say that both Clifford and David’s son Michael did get to meet up with Shelley later and I am sure that the knowledge I gained then helped me enormously with caring for Shelley.

  End of Chapter 22

  SUFFOLK CHRISTMAS VISITS – CHAPTER 23

  I was never much of a Christmas person and I put this down to living alone for a long time and being an only child. Not coming from a large family it was a time of year just spent at home with my parents. Sadly both passed away when I was young so I had one of two options spend it alone or visit friends. Please don’t get me wrong I am not a ‘Scrooge’ and I enjoyed visiting friends; however I always felt I was an outsider looking in on another family enjoying themselves and could never get into the spirit of the event.

  In Shoreham I was invited to visit Bill and Pearls for Christmas day and did enjoy it but with Christmas now becoming a longer event it meant there was more time to spend by myself. I had met Brend
a through some friends of mine and she was a widow so we both came up with the idea of going away to a small hotel for three days. That way no home cooking and an opportunity to get away and do different things whilst meeting others yet still retaining our independence. We had become good friends and did spend a lot of time in each others company. It was more of a friendship so we could share things without any commitment. By this I mean we both had our own circle of friends which we enjoyed mixing with but it was nice to know a person with whom I could do things with outside that circle.

  We had a look at some brochures and opted for ‘The Crown and Castle Hotel’ at Orford in Suffolk. I knew the area well and we decided on this place as it was in the country by the coast and not too far to drive from Shoreham. We could also bring the dogs. It meant Shelley and Brenda’s dog Danny could have some fun at the same time and hopefully some long walks.

  We drove off on Christmas Eve getting to the hotel early afternoon. Situated near Orford Castle it was in a small square with a nearby pub and the Orford Oystery which was well known as a fish restaurant. Down the road was the estuary which looked over to Aldeburgh and a rather nice local pub.

  We were greeted by the Manager of the Hotel a Mary Puttergill who was a bundle of fun from our initial meeting and duly shown around. Our room was situated in a small but modern annex behind the hotel. We chose this as we had two dogs and there were lawns outside. Shelley and Danny could not wait to see their temporary accommodation each looking for the best position for their sleeping requirements. It was a nice outlook with patio doors (not as though we would need them in the winter) and gave us a chance to park the car outside the room.

  We soon settled in and as Brenda sorted her unpacking out I took both dogs for a walk around the castle grounds and down to the small estuary on their leads. There was ample opportunity for lots of walks for all concerned including us. In the evening we went into the bar for pre dinner drinks and met some of the other guests. It seemed a very social gathering and for some it was very much an annual pilgrimage to the same hotel where they met up with old friends. Mary went behind the bar and introduced us to other guests including a couple from Aldeburgh who ran the local off licence - Joan and Eric Williamson. We got on well from the start and when they realised I was involved with the RNLI even more so as they both supported their local station in a big way and knew most of the crew well. They did not stay at the hotel but drove up twice a day for lunch and dinner as the off licence still had to be opened.

  On Christmas Eve I decided I wanted to go to the midnight service in the local church and took Shelley with me. I don’t know why, perhaps it was that I had had a good evening and wanted to be a bit different. To my surprise they let her into the church and she was well behaved falling asleep most of the time. When it was time for Communion one of the congregation’s regular church goers held onto Shelley. It was a lovely service and I was most surprised when the vicar blessed us at the end of the service he included his special guest ‘The Golden Labrador’. On the way out I thanked him and told him I was a visitor for Christmas and staying at the Crown and Castle hotel. I was to see him over the next three years on what was to become a regular trip.

  The three days soon went and during that time I took Brenda to Southwold and for a drink in The Swan and Harbour Inn introducing her to some of my old friends. This was not the idea of the visit but as it was so close it was well worth it. Joan and Eric also invited us to have drinks with them at the local pub in Aldeburgh. I was also to find out later that Eric had an outstanding war record flying Lancaster’s and had been awarded several medals. He was very modest and kept them in a drawer and I would not have known had Joan not mentioned it.

  Several years later I was to take my good friend Harry Richardson (whom I met in the Sovereign pub) from Shoreham to show him the area giving him an opportunity to meet Eric. He was stunned by the variety and quality of his awards telling a few of our RAF friends back in Shoreham on his return. Harry was himself a very modest man and liked to keep things very much to himself unlike a few others in Shoreham who went over the top regarding their war records.

  Shelley and Danny really had a wonderful time and on the visit to Southwold Shelley showed off her skills to Danny (whilst meeting many of her old friends) in getting the maximum attention from all and sundry with her crisp packet routine.

  One morning I took them both for a long walk along the estuary joining the footpath along by the river. You have guessed it Shelley decided to jump into the water to retrieve a large stick she had seen. Danny being so small had enough common sense and stayed out of the water barking non stop whilst running into muddy puddles. There was no problem when Shelley got wet as she soon dried out but Danny was a white bundle of fluff that had been specially groomed for the festive break at a vast expense in a posh grooming parlour in Hove.

  I had not thought about this and an hour our so later when we got back to the hotel Brenda was far from pleased. It was a bath then a blow dry with the hotel hair dryer before he came back to any normality. Shelley and I felt it best we keep our distance so retired to the bar for an early lunch time drink to be joined by Brenda with a dishevelled Danny. A few G and T’s later all was forgiven and when Joan and Eric joined us they made even more fun out of the situation.

  On our last day we popped into the pub by the harbour and met a couple of locals. One had lived in Orford all his life and had been no further than Ipswich and was now in his 80’s. This was often the case with some Suffolk folk. He had never married and lived with his two sisters. He did cycle to the pub every day and it had been known in the past for him to fall off his bike and sleep in the hedge until found. He kept all amused with his stories in return for several pints of Adnam’s Bitter. On reflection I don’t think he ever purchased a drink!

  We also met the local gamekeeper or should I say poacher. Now here was a man steeped in local history who knew more about gun dogs and Labradors than anyone I had met in the past. Looking at Shelley he said she was a wonderful looking dog and to our surprise guessed where she had come from even naming the breeders. Taking her outside onto the grass he put her through her paces asking her to sit – stay – heel etc. He gave her 8 out of 10 saying had she been given the opportunity she would have been a first class gun dog that he would have been proud to own. I asked him the best place to get some pheasant and he asked where I was staying. To our surprise next morning he turned up at the hotel looking for us. He drove his van down to my car and deposited four brace of pheasant in the car boot with his compliments. “Had it not been for your dog Shelley you would have had to pay for these,” he said with a broad smile. He kept to the same routine every year and I never asked where they came from!

  We enjoyed it so much that both of us were to return to Orford for three more years meeting up with the same local people and becoming part of the family. We stopped the visits when the hotel was sold and the Christmas rates doubled in price with it becoming more of an up market bistro establishment. It was interesting to note most of the others guests did the same. Sadly sometimes changes are not always the best thing when it comes to running a well established hotel.

  It was like this in both Shoreham and Southwold as often was the case the influx of a new type of resident resulted in publicans and shop owners catering for a different type of clientele resulting in the locals using other venues and when the winter months returned they wondered why their trade had dropped. Many of these wonderful resorts are now lived in by people who have second homes there. The cost of property has gone up and the children of the families who were born and bred there can no longer afford a residence. It is a sign of the times that has sadly put an increased price tag on properties giving a sense of false inflation.

  Also a new influx of people what locals often call grockels have resulted in some of the pubs where a dog like Shelley had always been welcome now deciding to ban them altogether. Somehow I have a feeling we have lived through the times when people were real peopl
e with an understanding of life. It is such a great pity as the many characters that were around will be a thing of the past only to be written about in books.

  Harry from Shoreham said of his first visit “If only I had known of this beautiful county before I would have made sure my family had seen it as I am seeing it with you”. Harry had a distinguished flying record during the Second World War and to meet Eric made his initial trip. Not only that he found the people very endearing and caring and this was to be the first of several visits I took him on to get him out of his Shoreham routine. It was also nice to stay with my good friend Chris Fox from the lifeboat who had now moved to Acle and was working at a boatyard at Reedham on the Norfolk Broads. It was like a family reunion!

  End of Chapter 23

  LIFEBOAT CHARITY WALK AND MORE ACTION – CHAPTER 24

  One of the other duties of being a Lifeboat crew member is getting involved in charity fund raising. Some is good fun and other times it is more a call of duty. There are many fund raising branches in the U.K and surprisingly there are inland ones that collect more than those that are by the coast or near a station. People that live inland admire what the RNLI do and when a particular story makes the national news funds do increase. Many pubs have collecting boxes and a lot of people also have boats they take to the coast or on rivers near to their homes.