Shelley the Lifeboat Labrador Read online

  Sam was good fun and had also asked some of her friends from near by Yeovilton Navy Air Base. It was an event run by the local Frome branch of the RNLI and they hoped to raise funds for one of the local lifeboat stations so some crew members also came along from Dorset coast. A lot of money was raised and we were well looked after to such an extent it got a little embarrassing however knowing what evenings like this could be we entered into the full spirit of it.

  Shelley came along and met Sam’s dog called Tesco. It was named after the store due to the fact that it was found abandoned outside one of its stores before being handed to a local rescue centre. Sam saw her and that was it, love at first sight. Shelley and Tesco became good friends and whenever we met up they both had great fun together. The evening concluded very late and we made our way back to Sam’s. There was a mobile home in her father’s house so we both stayed there with Shelley.

  Next day after breakfast she took us to the Longleat estate to show us around and we stopped by one of the lakes and when getting out of the car Shelley decided there was only one direction to go and that was into the water followed by an apprehensive Tesco. We all then went for a long walk along the hills surrounding Longleat House with Shelley picking up a branch that was so big she could just about lift it off the ground. No way would she give up and when we got to any gate or style she tried to get it through forgetting it would be impossible sideways. Not deterred, she then dropped it and pulled it through. We gave up and removed it throwing it into a nearby gorse bush. Oh dear! No way would she give in and in she went after ten minutes coming out with it scratched, bloodied and battered having proved to all and sundry how wonderful she was. Tesco having some common sense stuck to a tennis ball!

  To this day I have no idea why Shelley had to prove that she could carry planks, poles and branches that were much bigger than her. If the width was too much she would find the centre and chew it down so it would fit into her mouth then proceed to walk or run with it defying the centre of gravity. Had she been human I am certain she would have been another Barnes Wallis and help design an aircraft. Often due to the chosen object’s weight, her head would be lower than her body which resulted in her loosing her sense of direction. This meant all humans had to stay out of her way. She never tired and got most upset if her prize object was removed and she was put back on her lead. There is no doubt had she been a gun dog she would have been very good as we were told when we used to stay in Orford.

  We both left Frome after a really great weekend with Chris saying that he was never going to drink Mackinson Stout again for days after. I kept in touch with Sam for many years and she often came to Shoreham to visit the lifeboat attending some of the crew dinners as my guest. Sam like Brenda was to remain a good friend. We did not want a serious relationship but one that we would enjoy without any strings attached. I often reflected on my relationships with both. Because I was happy I never wanted to marry, was it a good move or not? I remained single for many more years and did not marry until 2001 when I met Cindy. I spent almost 30 years alone when perhaps I could have married and had a family. I was frightened having been hurt by the break up of my first marriage. Deep down inside I had this wish to find the right female trying sometimes too hard. In the end I decided to remain single with Shelley and enjoy life to the full. That way I had no restrictions and the best of both worlds. However; both Brenda and Sam played an important part in our lives and for that I owe them both a big thank you! xx

  I am not saying I was right and there were many times when I felt very lonely and coming back to an empty flat was not always nice. Sundays in the winter could be a day one wanted to forget – small problems did become large problems as I had no one to talk to about them – the telephone became an escape valve resulting to calls to friends often late at night. My willpower was sometime weakened when out with the offer of another pint knowing that there was no one to go home to. Sometimes I took friends back home late at night to keep the evening going on. Depression was there if only in a mild form but it did exist. If ever I went to visit friends with Shelley leaving them was always a lot sadder than arriving there. I was often leaving a nice house with a family who I had seen from the outside as happy. I sometimes was to find out this was not the case. There were pros and there were the cons of choosing the right path to take.

  People often said to me that Shelley was my life and she had stopped me from finding the right partner. Yes! People that are lonely do show affection to their pets and seek solace in them. I did this because she did not answer back – gave me lots of uncommitted love – was always there – made me laugh and was a constant companion that did not demand much for doing just that.

  End of Chapter Twenty Five

  CALLS TO MY VETERINARY FRIENDS – CHAPTER 26

  Life was indeed full of lots of activity for both Shelley and me. Now owning my own flat I felt it was time to repay a few friends who had been good to us and decided to hold a few small dinner parties. Over the years I had learnt to cook pretty well.

  It all started when my mother died and my father said that it was time I shared the home responsibilities. At the time I was not too happy but there is no doubt he was right and it did help me a lot later in life. I have always been a very tidy person, sometimes perhaps over the top keeping a very tidy and clean flat. It was the same in the kitchen and always making sure I washed up after every meal. Each night I prepared my sandwiches for the next day and this was followed every morning by a quick Hoover (how names stay with one!) of the flat. I always liked returning home after a days work to a property that I would be a delight to return too knowing that I could sit down and reflect on my days work.

  Shelley was not a messy dog and kept herself to herself sleeping in her area in the kitchen and if she came into the lounge or bedroom always went to the same places. We made an ideal team.

  I limited my dinner parties to 8 people and always made sure they had nice drinks to start with which was often followed by an easy starter then a main course of fish. Living by the sea was perfect for me and I had good contacts for getting Dover Sole and Lobsters. In the winter months I also found a farm outlet where I could get Pheasants at reasonable price. I had a nice CD collection and to be fair did not force jazz onto people, often going for classical music on a low volume.

  Providing I was left alone in the kitchen the cooking was easy. I could not cook and talk at the same time.

  On reflection I did have a bad habit of washing up as I went along, which resulted in the guests being left alone in the lounge. By doing this it gave me the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the evening with them later limiting any final washing up to coffee cups and empty glasses.

  Shelley enjoyed these evenings and used to nestle under the dining room table getting the odd scrap and following me into the kitchen at any opportunity. She used to stay up for a while but often went to her bed around about 10 p.m. I got a good name for these evenings and was often asked back to other’s houses for meals as a thank-you which could be very useful at times.

  I was not a great social person in the week or the evenings preferring to go out at lunch time at the weekends. There were more people around that both Shelley and I knew. The evenings in Shoreham saw a different type of person that frankly I was not that keen on mixing with.

  There was always the early crowd that came out about 6p.m and went home at 8p.m. many of these were very good company. Shelley liked this time as she knew she would have a nice walk through St Mary’s Church grounds to the Royal Sovereign and a walk back later. The early crowd consisted of some real characters such as Peter Dickerson who was the Air Traffic Controller at Shoreham Airport. He was very like the late actor James Robertson Justice with a loud voice and a large capacity for bitter. We were to become good friends and both he and his wife Maggie held some wonderful lunch time parties. For several years he also organised a Shoreham Airshow where I took many of the pictures. I was to become much more involved in this in my later life when they w
ere re-started.

  Peter was also a good photographer and advised me and supported me in my early days and I owe him a lot for that. There were many others that came and went (too many for this book) but Peter was one of those people that I included on my special list of true friends. Not only that, I did enjoy visiting the airport and Peter allowed me access to some areas that the public could not get too including the Tower where he worked. The airport was close to the River Adur which had some nice walks and I often went there with Shelley.

  One morning I was walking back toward the flat near the old toll bridge when I heard this aircraft take off. Before I knew it there was a loud bang and it had crashed into the field the other side of the river sadly killing all on board. It was too far away for me to get too. The story of course made the national press. A small regional airport did from time to time have incidents but mostly I am glad to say they involved light aircraft with very few casualties.

  Shoreham airport is the oldest private Airport in the UK and the Art Décor Terminal Building has been used for many films. From time to time Shelley and I went down to watch the filming. She loved all the action involved – perhaps remembering a comment made by Humphrey Lestocq (The Hon Secretary of Rye Harbour Lifeboat) to the effect that he thought she would make a good dog in the film ‘Angels One Five’ – sadly this, of course, never happened as the film was never re-made.

  Shelley was starting to slow down with her walks often taking that little bit longer. The water was still a temptation but the opportunities were not taken up like they used to be. If we went out she used to nestle by my feet and fall asleep taking a while to respond to a packet of crisps.

  I was also concerned by the number of lumps she had on her and one on her back leg was starting to play up a little. I took her to my vet and he said all was fine and it was just a sign of age. There was nothing to worry about as the lumps also as they were not malignant. She had become little grey around the gills but was still the Shelley I knew.

  Professor Formston had retired now but we still kept in touch so I decided to phone him for a second opinion. It was not long before he phoned back with an appointment for me to visit the Royal Veterinary College – friends in high places do help! We drove up meeting Clifford and went to the college. Shelly had the full works including X-Rays and blood tests and the results were very good with nothing to worry about. Clifford was a real friend and I often phoned him for that little bit of reassurance.

  David Coghlan, the veterinary surgeon I used to stay with in Buttervant near Cork, in Ireland had a son Michael who now had a practice near Southampton. He also became helpful and looked at Shelley from time to time. One could say that I was very lucky indeed having such supportive friends around me

  On reflection, life is a series of adventures where many people are met, some of whom become acquaintances and others who become friends. However, there are those special people who become very close and stay in close contact throughout life. It may be a phone call a year or a Christmas card or just the odd visit but as you get older these contacts seem to increase in number. In each period of my life there always seem to be particular friends or family members who have stood out alone above all others who fit into this mould.

  I went to a sales meeting in Birmingham when I was working for a company called Kendall which was for three days leaving Shelley with Molly. Shelley loved her times there sitting in the garden and being spoilt. Molly was such a nice and caring person and although I had now moved out of her house she was always there if I needed her. It was whilst I was at the meeting the second morning that I received a message that Shelley was not at all well. Keith my boss could see I was very distressed and told me to get on the next train home. I was stunned by his response and reaction. To let me do this was above ones call of duty. Keith had become a friend more than a sales manager. A taxi was called and I was on my way back to Shoreham.

  Apparently Shelley had been very sick during the night and was having problems walking so Molly in good faith phoned me and took her to the local vet. She had enough sense to wait for me to get back having been told by them that they would have to do several things to check her over at a fairly substantial cost.

  I phoned my practice and took her down in the car. The sickness had been caused by Shelley picking up something at the bottom of Molly’s garden and that was soon rectified. He was concerned about the lump on her back leg and felt it did need to be removed as it was causing her some considerable distress; so we agreed a date for this to be done. We both left with Shelley feeling a lot happier giving my ear the odd lick to welcome me back and wagging her tail on the back seat of my car. Thanks to Molly’s common sense all was now fine.

  What has annoyed me over many years is the introduction of veterinary pet insurance. I accept it does have advantages and admit I do have it. Where I think it goes wrong is that it encourages some practices to uses expensive procedures that they would not normally do knowing that it can all be claimed on the insurance. That is why I have often used a small practice where animals receive the individual attention from the same veterinary surgeon each visit. Also some practices take on newly qualified staff from colleges that bring with them some of the latest ideas. I have nothing against this as I know from first hand experience what colleges can do. These ideas are good but can sometimes be costly and this is then passed onto the patient via their insurance.

  With a small practice and a surgeon of some considerable experience I feel that in the long term it is better for both patient and owner. I recall my first visit with Shelley to the veterinary practice in Halesworth in Suffolk. I rest my case knowing that his initial comments then were right!

  End of Chapter 26

  LIFEBOAT STATION VISITS – CHAPTER 27

  Being a well travelled dog Shelley enjoyed her trips out with me. When away we always tried to stay by the coast this was because I liked the nautical environment and if there was a lifeboat station nearby it gave me the opportunity to meet up with people. A lot of my friends felt I was lucky doing the travelling I did; however that was not always the case. Hotels could be lonely places and as was often the case going back to a bleak hotel room was not as nice as returning back to my own flat. The more I did the less I began to enjoy it hence if I could work from home I would.

  Shelley was a great companion and if the truth be known she did help me make friends. If ever we went into a strange pub someone always came up and said what a nice dog I had; she was a conversation piece! Mind you it did have disadvantages sometimes I could get stuck with a persons company I did not want.

  If I was able to pop into a lifeboat station I would and was always told where the crew could be found socially. They were always pleased to see a crew member from another station and a lot of conversation was based on each stations history. What surprised me was that although there are a lot of stations in the U.K how many of the local crew knew members at other stations.

  Sometimes lifeboats were taken on passage which is when a replacement boat was needed whilst another had gone away for a refit or other times it was a delivery of a new boat. There was always a waiting list of crews to do this work. It often involved a lot of time at sea with stop overs in different ports which gave the crews good training and of course an opportunity to have a few excellent social evenings in the process. Delivery crew members were was often put up in a good pub or guest house and sometimes stayed with local crew members.

  I recall once that a relief boat was being taken to Shoreham as ours was going away to Lowestoft for a refit. The boat was due around lunch time having come itself from the East Coast. As it arrived our boat was launched and greeted the replacement off Shoreham. Once it was housed and ours taken to the harbour ready for its transit the following day we all met up back at the boathouse. What a surprise it was for me to find Roger Trigg on board from Southwold and some of the crew from Aldeburgh.

  Who says dogs don’t have memories. Shelley had not seen Roger for a couple of years
so I was interested to see what would happen once he got off the lifeboat. Rodger did know that I had become involved with the Shoreham station as it was he who, in the first place, developed my interest in the RNLI when in Southwold, so it was a welcome greeting for both of us. Shelley made straight to him jumping up with excitement where the affection and comments were duly exchanged. She would not leave him alone sitting by him all the time (was it the crisps she was waiting for?). Roger used the Harbour Inn a lot at Southwold and had seen Shelley grow up from a puppy. That evening bookings had been made for the visiting crew in a couple of local Bed and Breakfasts and we had all agreed to meet for a drink in Shoreham.

  Some of the other crew from Aldeburgh knew Eric and Joan well from the towns off licence and up-dated me on their news. Eric and Joan supported the lifeboat well with collections in their shop and being the only off licence in Aldeburgh it also became a meeting place for the crew from time to time. They had a small lounge at the back of the shop and when I visited them it was often the case that the coxswain or mechanic would be there having a drink and a chat with both of them. They had a great shop warning system which was a buzzer in their lounge. Every time anyone entered the premises it went off so they could enjoy their social life along with their work. Aldeburgh was also a well respected town and like Southwold had a very low crime rate with a local community that based their lives on trust!