Shelley the Lifeboat Labrador (3 page)

The pub had a tidal mark on the outside wall indicating where the terrible and tragic 1953 floods happened with many lives lost along the East Coast. This part of the coast has been a well known area for filming and whilst I was there they filmed Monty Pythons Flying Circus and a couple of Dickens cinema features. Walking into any of the local pubs and in particular The Swan one often saw celebrities who wanted a quiet few secluded days by the sea.

This was a beautiful town - I will always have fond memories of the people and the buildings that were part of it.  Even Shelley got to know the local butcher and fishmonger always stopping outside both shops whenever she walked past – I wonder why!

There is something about this part of the coast that makes this so different from other regions. The sea meets the sky and the properties linked to this quaint town are just that bit special. It attracts a type of person that wants to enjoy those treasured moments alone. There are a lot of artists living in the region and of course musicians with Snape Maltings down the road near Aldeburgh.

Looking into the windows of some of the terraced houses one could see shelves full of books, and walls covered with paintings. The gardens were small yet adorned with flowers and everyone tried to make a concerted effort to be proud of being part of Southwold. There are nice bookshops and some rather upmarket cloths shops. They have a right to be there and that is why I never got tired of walking into the town. Every day was different and there was always someone to stop and speak to.

End of Chapter Three

GHOSTS AND A POSSIBLE MOVE - CHAPTER FOUR

“How is Shelley and have you got her with you?” was the greeting at most business calls I made.  Even at some of the larger hospitals she managed to get into the porters lodge as I went around the many departments knowing she would be looked after well.  It also took the pressure off me as I knew she was in safe hands.  We became a real working team and I am certain it did help to increase my sales, after all how many representatives took a dog with them most days?

Christine moved into Ralph’s new office in Southwold just off the high street and seemed to spend a lot of time there. As his business grew she travelled with him a lot more to run courses so it gave Shelley and I more time to get to know each other. It was these days that I am sure her loyalty towards me stared to grow and we started to form that close bond. We spent a lot of time travelling in the car. Being a sales representative can be very lonely at times and with Christine often away it also meant I came back to an empty property

I recall one occasion when they went to a disused airfield at a place called Bircham Newton. Residential courses were run at the venue for the building industry.  Christine phoned me one day and suggested I drive up as I was working in that area and have dinner with her and stay over. Christine had also checked and found out it would be fine to bring Shelley along.               

The airfield had a long history in the Second World War and the old buildings around the officer’s mess were used for the courses with revamped accommodation on site. 

Shelley and I arrived early evening just as it was getting dark. There was an eerie feel to the place and the long disused runways were overgrown with weeds and long grass with a silhouette of the control tower in the distance.

The first thing I noticed about Shelley was her reluctance to get out of the car and later when I tried to take her for a walk around some of the old hangers she kept very close to me whimpering.

We all had a nice meal out that evening on the outskirts of Cromer and Ralph drove us back to Bircham Newton with Shelley sitting in the back of his Range Rover.  Ralph was a very generous person and looked after Christine well and often took us out for a meal or lent us one of his cars.  He had a Triumph Stag and a Range Rover and we became very good friends indeed both in and out of work.  They were rather up market vehicles - any opportunity we could use them was taken up to elevate us in the local society (what poseurs we all were!).  There was something nice about driving a Range Rover when all we had was a Ford and a Mini – as for the Triumph Stag I decided to give that a miss.  I started it up once forgetting it was automatic and drove into Ralph’s privet hedge removing the wipers - radio aerial and almost ending up in the next gardens tennis court.

As we drove back into the airfield Shelley began to get agitated again. Once we parked she did not want to get out of the vehicle and Christine had to carry her into the building.  As I had to leave early in the morning we decided to call it a night and retired to bed.  The idea was to get a decent night’s sleep but that it appears was the last thing on Shelley’s mind - she spent all night in the corner of the room shaking and on two occasions tried to get under the sheets with us both.  It was very worrying as we thought this was going to be the first major problem we had with her – staying away.                                       

How wrong could I be?  Next morning before I left I took Shelley for a little walk and met another person walking his dog.  I asked him if he had any problems with his dog. “Not on a personal level – however there are stories.

Pilots have been seen walking across fields carrying parachutes as well as some                                                                                                           unexplained incidents around the buildings of Aircrew playing table tennis and                                                                                                                    talking from the gallery in the officer’s mess and laughter with the closing of hanger doors followed by footsteps.”  He added “Apparently Bircham Newton is considered to be one of the most haunted airfields in East Anglia resulting in many paranormal sightings. It has featured in several books and recently a television crew spent the night there and came up with interesting footage. There is no doubt that along with other airfields hidden memories remain within its perimeters.” Perhaps Shelley sensed things that we did not. It was to happen again later in my life.

I returned back to Southwold that night after doing some hospital calls at Kings Lynn. Shelley quietened down the minute we left Bircham Newton and Christine returned at the end of the week.

As much as I enjoyed Southwold Christine found it to be rather quiet and she wanted to purchase a house rather than rent.  Living in the town would be out of the question as property in this neck of the woods was too expensive.  I was also not happy with my current work and changes were being planned which would involve me travelling more into London.  We both made the decision to make a move (it was something I would regret to this day).

I applied for a Job with a well established chemical company based near Cambridge which I got. We both drove over to the area several times and eventually found a nice semi detached property in Eaton Socon near St. Neots and just off the A1.

We remained in Southwold for a couple more months and it was what I called my winding down period a job change and move on the way I decided to leave my current company early and have a few weeks off.                             

It was a great period for me. I walked Shelley for miles along the beaches and through the countryside and our bond became a lot stronger. I enjoyed the company of the locals I had met and without realising it seemed to be spending more time with them than with Christine.  Our relationship was drifting apart and she went back to Hythe to stay with her parents for a long weekend taking Shelley with her by train.                                                                   

I had agreed to meet her at Ipswich Station on the Monday and she came off the train in a bit of a hurry suitcase in hand with Shelley following behind on the lead.  I asked what the rush was and she explained that unknown to her Shelley who she thought was fast asleep by her feet had chewed her way into a massive string sack of sprouts the lady sitting opposite had purchased at the local market.  As she got up to get off the train hundreds of sprouts fell out of the bottom of the sack all over the carriage and onto the platform.  Looking back all I could see was this woman trying to pick them up with the help of other passengers whilst casting an odd glance in the direct of the three of us – Shelley oblivious to the problems she caused!

This was not an easy time for me as I had become much attached to living in Southwold. There is something about living by the sea. Norfolk and Suffolk had long desolate beaches which one could walk along for many hours often not seeing anyone else. It was paradise for young Shelley and how was she going to react living inland? Most important of all was I going to like it? I have never liked built up areas and living in London for a brief spell in the 60’s proved that to me.

We drove back and spent the next couple of days trying to sort out our many problems and agreed to see what we could do to try and make this marriage work. It was not going to be easy as I was still very unhappy about moving away from the coast. However; there are times when one must make decisions in life that one does not want to in order to please others. We decided to place the deposit down and set the ball in motion for our move inland. Meeting people in town they could see that I was not a happy bunny.  It did show. I tried to put on a brave face but had bad vibes about the whole move. I drank a bit more than usual and often stayed out late whilst at times forgetting about Shelley leaving her back at home. This was not me!

End of Chapter Four

LAST FEW WEEKS IN SOUTHWOLD – CHAPTER 5

We had lived in Southwold for about two years and had made many new friends during that time.  Shelley found areas to explore along the Suffolk coastline to have her regular swims.  Not far away was a lot of Forestry Commission land leading up to many bird sanctuaries; it was beautiful yet remained rugged.  The wildlife areas were always popular with the many visitors and this went right along to the North Norfolk coast.

It was common to see lots of bird watchers around most of the year.  Shelley was always getting into trouble by running into the gorse bushes and chasing the birds away and on several occasions we were taken to task by people brandishing their telescopes at us.  It was not meant. After a while we decided to leave the areas to the birds and concentrate on walks through the forests.

In the thick of these wooded areas, which often went on for miles it could sometimes become very frightening as the trees became very dense.  One day we let Shelley off the lead and carried on walking but after a while Christine wondered where she was.  After repeated calls nothing happened. We re-traced our tracks calling all the time. It was late afternoon and the sun was low over the horizon and it was becoming dark.  Before too long the trees became silhouettes and the peat paths which showed the odd patch of white sand were harder to follow.  Both of us were now in panic mode clapping hands and calling repeatedly, but still no sight of Shelley and she had been gone now for almost two hours.  We decided to go back to the car and get the torch and return to the pathway.

Where we had parked the car was in a small wooded area designated as a Forestry Commission car park. On our return there were no other cars. To our surprise fast asleep by the front tyre was Shelley, soaking wet and covered in white sand and bits of heather.  She had obviously had at some stage lost her way but had enough sense to make her way back to the car.  The sea was well over a mile away and she must have gone to the beach for a swim and got disorientated in the process. I think we had all learnt our lessons on this occasion. To this day I have never let a dog off the lead in woods unless I can see her.

One of the nicest surprises we had was when Rick and Daphne Bath-Jones who managed the Swan Hotel decided to give us a nice farewell dinner.  We had some friends staying Chris and Celia Pearson from Holdsey Bay.  I met them many years ago when I lived in Hythe when Chris was in the Army.  They were a fun couple and he played a great blues and folk guitar to which there was a mouth organ attached.  I lost touch with them for many years and then found them again living on the Suffolk coast.  Chris had left the army and was an Assistant prison governor at Holdsey.  They had been to us before and had now requested they come for that weekend.  Unknown to us they had set up the dinner with Rick.

It was suggested we go to the hotel for a few drinks and to our surprise when we got there, there were about twenty people including a couple of other friends of ours from Hythe in Kent.  It was a great evening and even Ralph Tuck came along, Jack also and Martin the fisherman.  The food was great and there was a nice little speech and some flowers for Christine. We carried on in the bar until late then made our way back (walking in torrential rain) continuing our festivities at home which Shelley enjoyed having been given a nice chew by Daphne.  It was the only time that we had complaints from other residents in the property. We did apologise the next day. I think Chris got a little carried away with his singing and likewise I with some Jazz records on the hi-fi.