One of the good things about having a dog in lockdown is that you get out and meet people. Poppy has made lots of friends on our regular walks around town and this is Charlie, one of her favourites. Charlie comes to the riverside walk on our side of Newark most mornings on his mobility scooter. He exercises his dodgy knee and feeds the birds (and the rats). Poppy is always pleased to see him and he her. Over the months we've passed the time of day together I've learned that he used to be in the Pioneer Corps and that he buys and sells antiques. He also knows a lot about the town and its inhabitants. Sometimes he gets to know one of the transient rough sleepers who turn up on the benches on the riverside walk from time to time and he has been known to bring them sandwiches.
Then there's Ruby, a lovely black poodley looking dog who has similar energy levels and who she loves to wrestle. Ruby's owner Judy lives with her partner in a house overlooking the Trent. They own an apartment in Spain and have a more cosmopolitan outlook than most of Newark's inhabitants. So while Poppy and Ruby play we chat about the state of the world and how sometimes we miss the multi-racial mix of our home city, London.
Then there's farmer David, who we often encounter striding purposefully along the banks of the Trent going to feed his sheep. David has spent his life with dogs, horses, sheep and cattle, who he refers to by their ancient name of "beasts". We often have a wide-ranging conversation while Poppy looks on, sometimes impatiently. David seems to know everyone in Nottinghamshire and his country dress and down to earth manner belie the fact that I suspect he is actually a big cheese in these parts. He began one conversation one morning by explaining he was tired "having just got back from Penrith". He replied to my comment that it hadn't taken him long by explaining he'd gone by helicopter. A livestock sales agent had felt it sufficiently worth their while to charter a chopper and take a group of buyers up to the Lake District to view and buy at auction. I can't see them doing that for a cash-strapped smallholder.
